GERMANY / NEXT STEPS : More Stumbling Feared Amid Tragicomic March to Unity

Hanns-Joachim Friedrichs, host of a popular West German current events television program, was explaining this week the latest blur of domestic political twists, posturings and positions on the issue of German unification when he suddenly stopped.

“Are you still there?” he asked, looking at the camera and his viewers at home.

The answer, even among those most fascinated by the movement toward German unity, was most likely: “No.”

In its final stages, the once-smooth march toward unity has disintegrated into a confused, tragicomic mess characterized by cheap political bickering and tactical U-turns that have disgusted voters in West Germany and demoralized those in the East.

As the shattered East German economy drifts toward chaos and estimates of the costs of unification rise, the actual date of political unity has been agreed to, changed and batted around with a zaniness reminiscent of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” routine. A pre-dawn session of the Volkskammer on Thursday mercifully ended the farce and agreed on Oct. 3.

Those here who have watched other key issues of unification suffer similar wild gyrations brace themselves for more as the two Germanys take their final, uncertain steps toward each other over the next six weeks. Among the most important of these steps are:

--Ratification of a state treaty setting conditions of unification. Broad differences on issues from finance to abortion exist between government and opposition in both countries. The two Germanys are expected to reach agreement by early next week, but the ratification process would require about four weeks. The opposition Social Democrats on both sides of the border have threatened to veto the treaty, which would destroy the image of two sovereign states negotiating their unity but would not block unification. Instead, much of the treaty language would go into a legislative bill that would need only a simple majority to pass through the Parliament of West Germany. (Technically, unification will be achieved by East Germany’s asking to become part of West Germany, a procedure known as “accession.”)

--Conclusion of talks on the international arrangements for unity with the four major victorious powers of World War II--the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. There are no serious differences on this issue since last month’s agreement that a united Germany will be a member of NATO. An accord could be initialed after final talks in Moscow on Sept. 12.

--A report to Europe’s foreign ministers on these arrangements. The two German foreign ministers are expected to brief a meeting of 33 of their European counterparts in New York on Oct. 2. The sense of obligation that Germany fully inform its neighbors on the details reflects the desire that unification win their blessing and the strength of the German pledge that the merger would not be carried out “behind the backs of European states.” Some cynics argue that the confusion surrounding the unity process merely underscores the oft-cited conventional wisdom that German efficiency hums in familiar surroundings but sputters once it hits the unknown. But a mixture of other factors has also contributed to the politically stormy conditions.

East Germany’s first freely elected Parliament, staffed largely with political amateurs and operating with no democratic tradition or sense of protocol, is not just unpredictable but frequently volatile. As the Volkskammer burst into applause after finally agreeing on the Oct. 3 date, there was still the whiff of doubt that, somehow, it might all change yet again.

In Bonn and East Berlin, positioning on several key issues, including the accession date, has often seemed more influenced by election-related jockeying than serious policy differences.

Only recently have hints of interest in a possible truce been detected as all sides realize there can be no winner in the skirmishing and the democratic process itself is the big loser.