Moscow, Bonn Upbeat on German Unity : Diplomacy: Two foreign ministers report progress on a reunification accord, although ‘thorny problems remain.’

Moscow and Bonn inched closer to agreement Monday on the status of a united Germany, but Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze stressed that “some thorny problems remain.”

Shevardnadze and his West German counterpart, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, were upbeat after a four-hour meeting, shaking hands with cheering admirers in the cobblestoned marketplace of this medieval city.

The two leaders disclosed no details of the progress they say they made and gave no hint of any breakthrough concessions on either side. However, both expressed confidence that a resolution could be hammered out by November for ratification by the 35-member Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The conference is made up of the United States, Canada, the Soviet Union and 32 European governments.

Shevardnadze said West Germany and the Soviet Union have reached “almost identical positions” on turning the conference into a formal pan-European institution. The two envision such an organization with a secretariat and headquarters in Berlin, holding regular summit meetings, according to Shevardnadze. The organization would deal with such matters as advance notice about military maneuvers.

Monday’s meeting borrowed historical significance from the Peace Chamber in the Muenster Town Hall, where the two men met. The salon is where the 1648 Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending central Europe’s devastating Thirty Years’ War.

Genscher clearly chose the site for its symbolic significance, since the treaty also agreed on the withdrawal of foreign troops from the territories of a collection of German states and gave them the right to enter into foreign alliances.

At a news conference after Monday’s discussions, Genscher declared that the two sides “have reached rapprochement of our positions on important questions.”

The key issue dividing them is the military status of a united Germany. Both Germanys have agreed with the Western stance that a united Germany must carry full membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Moscow has vigorously opposed the plan.

“It is very important that we have the presence of Soviet forces on the territory of the German Democratic Republic,” Shevardnadze said. “And we discussed this question today very frankly and openly.”

Both the Soviet Union and West Germany are involved in the so-called two-plus-four negotiations on German unity--so named for the two Germanys and the four victorious World War II allies--that revolve around Europe’s external security arrangements with a united Germany.

Genscher on Monday outlined the four main areas of two-plus-four talks as:

Disarmament of conventional weapons in Europe.

The institutionalization of the CSCE.

Relations between NATO and Warsaw Pact states.

Security for the German-Polish border.

Genscher touched on the sensitive Polish border question Monday, saying he had informed Shevardnadze that simultaneous votes on the subject are expected Thursday in the East and West German parliaments. They are expected to approve a treaty guaranteeing that a united Germany will not try to reclaim pre-World War II territories now part of Poland.

Shevardnadze described his second meeting with Genscher in as many weeks as “constructive” and “useful,” but he did not appear as effusive as Genscher.

“Of course, I don’t want to create the illusion that all proceeded smoothly, or that all outstanding issues were resolved,” he said. “Some thorny problems remain.”

He refused to go into specifics but said the problems “are quite numerous” and center on European stability.

Genscher noted that the concept of stability encompasses “not only military but ecological and economic stability as well.”

As the two foreign ministers met, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl accelerated his drive for rapid unification by virtually committing himself to all-German elections before the end this year.

“We know now that 1990 will be the year of unity,” he told the first-ever joint meeting of Christian Democrats from East and West Germany. “We’re nearer than ever before to our great goal--a united Germany in a united Europe.”

East German Prime Minister Lothar de Maiziere made no direct mention of an election date during his address to the joint session.

In a television interview in Bonn on Monday evening, Kohl said that for what he termed psychological reasons, an all-German election date should come first from the East Germans, but that talks last weekend in East Berlin with members of several East German political parties led him to expect such an election this year.

Times staff writer Tyler Marshall, in West Berlin, contributed to this report.