Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990 TAG: 9003071370
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BONN, WEST GERMANY LENGTH: Medium
His government proposed a parliamentary resolution, to be introduced Thursday, saying a united Germany should sign a treaty with Poland declaring that the right of Poles "to live in secure borders will not now or in the future be questioned by us Germans."
After a Cabinet meeting where ministers discussed disagreements over his handling of the border issue, Kohl said: "The things that burdened us are cleared away."
The Polish Foreign Ministry said "clear progress" had been made, but that talks were needed about a border treaty.
Mikhail Gorbachev welcomed the "corrections" in Kohl's position, the Soviet news agency Tass quoted the Soviet president as saying after meeting in Moscow with Hans Modrow, the premier of East Germany.
Kohl had been criticized for his reluctance to state clearly, presumably to preserve the conservative vote in December elections, that a reunified Germany would not question Poland's western border.
He had insisted repeatedly that only the leadership of a united Germany could make such a promise about Polish territory.
Kohl's pronouncements caused unease not only in Poland, the Soviet Union, United States and other nations, but also at home. The Free Democrats, his coalition partners, joined the opposition Social Democrats in saying his position jeopardized the chances of unification.
On Friday, he exacerbated the problem by demanding that any border treaty be linked to pledges by Poland to honor a 1953 decision to waive war reparations and renew a 1989 promise to guarantee the rights of its German minority.
Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and his Free Democrats agreed with Poland that Kohl must clarify his position.
by CNB