Bonn, Moscow Narrow Gap Over Reunification

West Germany and the Soviet Union narrowed their differences over German unification Thursday and expressed optimism that remaining obstacles to unity can be overcome.

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze described his 90-minute meeting with West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher as “a good talk in a good atmosphere.”

“I think our positions have gotten closer now, and that is a good basis,” he told journalists after the meeting in the Namibian capital. “We will look for a compromise. That is the only way to reach big decisions.”

Shevardnadze avoided repeating Gorbachev’s hard-line stance against a united Germany’s being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“If we succeed in synchronizing the process of German unity with the creation of a mechanism of European security, then everything will be all right,” he said in response to questions on the subject.

“This process will demand intensification of our common efforts to build security structures,” he added, welcoming a suggestion by Genscher of a European security center to avoid conflicts.

West German officials said Genscher tried hard to ease Soviet concerns about reunification taking place too fast.

They quoted him as telling Shevardnadze: “I solemnly assure you nothing will happen behind your back. You will not be presented with a fait accompli. “