Poland to Be Invited to German Border Talks

The first meeting of the two Germanys and the four victorious World War II powers on the subject of German unity was held here Wednesday, and the participants agreed to invite Poland to attend sessions at which the Polish-German border issue is discussed.

The head of the host West German delegation, diplomat Dieter Kastrup, said that at this first meeting, the Germanys, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France discussed procedural questions and an agenda for further meetings. The meeting lasted seven hours.

He said the participants had agreed not to spell out the details of their meetings, the next of which will be held in East Berlin after the East German national election Sunday.

But Kastrup did reveal that Poland, whose government had expressed anger at being left out of the talks, will be permitted to attend any sessions concerned with the controversial border question. He gave no details.

“The participants agreed Poland will be invited as soon as questions are discussed . . . that especially affect its borders,” Kastrup said.

The government of Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki wants firm guarantees that Poland’s postwar frontier with East Germany, incorporating vast tracts of prewar Germany, will remain undisturbed. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl earned himself widespread international criticism by seeming to hedge on making such a pledge.

Under pressure of world opinion, Kohl reversed himself last week, and his government offered a resolution in the Bundestag, or Parliament, making the pledge. But the Poles were not satisfied with promises. They want negotiations on the border issue to begin before the two Germanys are reunited.

The so-called two-plus-four talks on reunification, agreed to by the Western allies and the Soviet Union, are designed to resolve the terms of a reunified Germany, as well as its future place in the European security system and such matters as the final status of Berlin.

The four victorious nations have residual rights in Germany and over Berlin because no peace treaty was signed to formally end World War II. The division of postwar Germany into eastern and western zones of occupation by the victors, followed by the formation of separate states as the Cold War quickly hardened the East-West dividing line, foreclosed the possibility of a final peace settlement for the past 40 years.

The process was set forth during a meeting of foreign ministers in Ottawa last month. The two Germanys first are to forge a preliminary accord on steps toward unity, dealing with internal and domestic issues, and the four powers would then deal with the security and foreign policy issues.

The two Germanys held their first meeting on unification last Friday.

Wednesday’s talks were at the mid-diplomatic level, with the United States represented by State Department counselor Robert Zoellick, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Raymond Seitz and National Security Council official Condolenza Rice.

West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher said Wednesday before the meeting that West Germany’s goal at the talks is “that the foreign aspects of the establishment of German unity be dealt with in harmony with the European unification process and European security.”

The German unity question will probably be taken up informally at a higher level when the foreign ministers of all six countries--except East Germany--are scheduled to attend independence ceremonies for Namibia on March 21 in Windhoek.

A chief sticking point in the discussions is expected to be whether a united Germany should be neutral or remain within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Kohl and the three Western allies want a united Germany to remain a staunch member of the alliance, but Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has insisted that a united Germany remain neutral.

Poland, however, believes that a united Germany within NATO poses less of a risk to East European countries than a strong, united Germany that is not anchored to the Atlantic Alliance.

The East German position will be unclear until after the results of Sunday’s election are known and a new government formed.