Kohl Rejects Suggestion to Delay Military Decision

Chancellor Helmut Kohl today rejected Moscow’s suggestion that the two Germanys could unite and decide later which military alliances they will join, and East Germany said it also was skeptical.

Speaking to reporters, Kohl said the matter of a united Germany’s military allegiances must be cleared up before the two German nations are formally merged.

Kohl said the Germans “need no singularization,” meaning that a united Germany should have its sovereignty.

The chancellor was referring to a suggestion by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze at last week’s unification talks in Bonn that formal unity could occur before “external” aspects of the merger process are cleared up.

East Germany also reacted negatively to Shevardnadze’s proposals.

Government officials in East Berlin are “skeptical” of delaying a settlement on the “external” aspects of unification, said the East German news agency ADN, and want “a quick continuation” of the six-nation talks.

During Saturday’s meeting of the two Germanys and the four World War II victors, Shevardnadze also suggested a “transition period” during which the four wartime allies would retain postwar rights even after German unity.

Shevardnadze’s remarks initially had triggered jubilation among some West German politicians, who sensed the pace of unification was rapidly picking up.