European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Solidarity East germans cheer West German Drivers on the Road Between Hof and Plauen on Christmas morning Man in Santa costume at right holds a Banner Reading a Welcome to All germans the f Orr wow w�1 1 i Kosof reunion two nations experience pains of growing Back together by Marc Fisher Washington Post the has Selben pig farm was the Pride of the East German propaganda Mill. It produced 133, pigs a year and employed 800 people even providing them with housing and schooling. Then came the revolution of 1989, and suddenly everything that had seemed right was wrong. The farm was unprofitable oversized a reckless polluter. Shut it Down demanded new voices of democracy. Now two months later a with no direction from the East German government and no Money from West Germany a the farm is a third smaller. One Hundred workers Are gone and 100 More will be gone soon. Waste is disposed of in a Way that meets West German standards a West Berlin professor has approved new animal care rules and now three West German companies Are talking about buying the farm. Quot i m against any Westerner coming in Here and taking Over and telling us How to work a said Horst Ker Likofsky the farms Deputy production director. But his Boss Cut him off. Quot the time for talk like that is Over Quot said Reinhardt Krebs. Quot now its work or you re out. This cannot be done without  Germany a no East no West just Germany a is emerging from 45 years of separation imposed after world War ii. In the East people like Krebs have thrown off the Yoke of Central planning and Are rediscovering old fashioned industriousness. In the West the latest prosperous postwar generation wants to redress what it considers decades of injustice by gaining the respect and Trust of foreign neighbors for a peaceful and United country. Quot i always believed that Germany would Rise again As one nation Quot West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said in March. Quot history is fulfilling  already the continents largest most thriving Economy Germany is rapidly shedding its postwar stepchild status. Quot Europe s Pivotal Point will move from the West toward the Center probably toward Berlin a said Gerhard von Glinski a West German political commentator. Citing a Quot Basic Law of geopolitics Quot he said that Quot a fall of Russia Means the Rise of Germany Quot with Germany taking Over much of the soviet unions sphere of influence in Central Europe. When communist domination began to fade last fall the Region looked across to the affluent example of West Germany a nation of 61 million people that exports twice the value of goods of any other european country. Now West German diplomats talk about their role not Only in rebuilding East Germany but also in reconstructing struggling economies in the Region. Bonn wants to revive the traditional role that German culture played in prewar Europe. It is retraining 1,000 russian language instructors to teach German at Goethe institutes opening to promote German. Language and culture in Moscow Warsaw Prague and elsewhere in the East. But the euphoria of november when the Berlin Wall burst open under the pressure of demonstrators who toppled a repressive communist regime without shedding a drop of blood is Over. Ended Are the Days when the former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt could draw roars from an East German crowd simply by saying Quot we will again be among  in the East the Pride of winning a peaceful revolution and conducting the first free elections in 57 years has been overtaken by an eagerness to achieve a Western Way of life and by resentment about a perceived arrogance of their cousins beyond the Wall. The Promise of getting Deutsche Marks a which East germans Call Quot real Money Quot a by july has eased the Westward flow of families but few East germans relish the Prospect of More West germans coming Over to flaunt their wealth. In the West the sheer Joy of reunited families and the exciting game of playing magnanimous Baron to the freed serfs of the East has been replaced by fears of hard times higher taxes and Competition for jobs. Estimates of rebuilding East Germany in the West a image have run As High As $300 billion but a new poll of West German business and political leaders found 77 percent opposed to new taxes to help boost East Germany to a Western living Standard. The Germany that will emerge from postwar division wants to be seen As fundamentally different from the one that was crushed by the allies in 1945. On the 51st anniversary of the nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia the German president Richard von Weiss Fucker became the first foreign Leader to be received by president Vaclav Havel. When Havel said he did not fear German reunification von Weizsacker said he was Quot overwhelmed by the Trust you place in us  that Trust von Weizsacker said later Means a new Germany will have the Freedom to carve out its own political and military role unhindered by restrictions that have limited its sovereignty since the defeat of Adolf Hitler in world War ii. Germany would be Able for example to commit troops to United nations peacekeeping missions to restore its capital in Berlin or to take Back control of vast stretches of land now reserved for nato forces. But von Weizsacker quickly added that a new Germany would have new responsibilities not Only to help Central Europe build Market economies but also to push for the continent s economic and political integration. Only through a United Europe can germans finally be freed of International fears of a Germany that goes its own Way and tries to drag the rest of the world along von Weizsacker said. International worries about reunification have focused on How to secure peace in Europe now that the Boundary Between the Germany is no longer the fault line dividing the East from West. Can nato and soviet troops be stationed in one country do nuclear weapons stored on German soil and aimed at other germans make sense any longer As diplomatic discussions of such questions unfold beginning with talks among the two Germany and the four world War ii allies and culminating in a Europe wide conference this fall germans Are looking inward. A poll by the Allensbach Institute of West Germany finds the most important Issue on German minds to be the environment followed by several financial matters and reunification. At the Bottom of the list is military Security cited by Only 3 percent. When they do think about Security West germans and their government tend to differ sharply. Despite Kohls Strong support for maintaining Germany s Western ties through membership in the North Atlantic treaty organization several polls show the people Are More open to neutrality. While the rest of the world tries to restructure Europe around a reunited Germany the germans Are concentrating on adjusting their Economy to fit new political parameters. If the Price they must pay for reunification is to help bail the soviet Union out of its economic morass Bonn politicians say they will do so. Even As West German companies plan enormous investments in the East a opel will build 150,000 cars a year in East Germany Volkswagen will pump in $3 billion a West German politicians Tell foreigners that reunification is not creating an economic Behemoth but will Only boost the nations Gross National product by about one tenth. Such arguments will not Wash according to a former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Because political Power in the 1990s will Stem not from military but from financial might he said that fear of the new Germany will arise unless germans quickly cede some of their newfound sovereignty to a United Europe. For that reason Kohl has sought to link his push for a rapid merger of the Germany with an acceleration o the political and economic integration of Europe. For months Kohl seemed to pursue reunification i single minded Zeal raising anxieties among his dose european partners particularly France that the drive might distract Bonn from helping to build a United Europe. But now that Early reunification seems assured Kohl is devoting More attention to pers 9 his allies that the new Germany is willing to Sac Rifi National sovereignty to build a United Europe. Although the Complex web of Security issues in e discussion by German allies and neighbors win n resolved for months the delicate nature of Securi y questions is not expected to hinder Progress Tow fusing the Germany. Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes saturday april 7,1990