A Bonn diary
GERMANY JOSEPH CHAPMAN
Bonn—Temporarily and fortuitously, the tide is running well for Anglo-German relations. Mr Wilson recognised this immediately upon his arrival in Bonn last week. Talks which before had been generally thought to be lacking a subject suddenly became relevant. The Rus- sians and the East Germans saw to that. NeW pressure on Berlin and we were all on familiar ground. Behind that the knowledge that Franco- German relations were unusually strained, that it was only practical to do some repair work on relations between Bonn and London after the recriminations of last November, that it would be sensible to present some common front to Mr Nixon, and finally the pub- lication of the fortuitously good January trade figures—all this contrived to make Mr Wilson's visit a short-term success.
Mr Wilson came—and went -stressing two themes: the need for greater European unity and the need to reinforce European security. He quoted his own speech in the Czecho- slovakia debate in the House of Commons to prove his conviction. (No politician ever can have quoted his own speeches as often as Mr Wilson--he has such a variety of quotations to draw on that in this way he can prove almost any point, especially to a foreign audi- ence.) But in fact the Germans were interested only in security. That was what the German press wrote about, that was what the Ger- mans talked about. And, of course, they won their point. Mr Wilson gave an unconditional promise to uphold the traditional British position on Berlin and the paramountcy of the Atlantic alliance. In return the Germans gave an unspecified promise to work towards Euro- pean unity, a state which is 'inconceivable' without Britain. So much was directly stated in the Declaration of Bonn, as it has so far failed to be called. What this joint statement at the end of the talks means, in German terms, is 'while European unity may be the ideal we all dream about, what we imme- diately worry about is security. Security comes from alliance with the United States and to some extent with Britain. European unity is a question to be sorted out or evaded with France. So far it has been possible to keep the two issues in separate compartments; long may it remain.'
The shadow of the regular Franco-German consultations hung heavy over this meeting. On those occasions bands of ministers come, consult each other and all sorts of issues are discussed. Here Mr Wilson came without minis- terial attendance. He was faced in turn by five German ministers, including the Chan- cellor and several state secretaries. In part the German coalition dictates this, and in part the way the Germans divide their ministries. Mr Wilson, for example, could hardly be seen only by ministers from the CDU; nor (the Ger- mans having a successful kind of ma) could he be allowed to talk to Herr Strauss (Finance, csu) without also talking to Professor Schiller (Economic Affairs, SPD). It left a lopsided im- pression, none the less. Here was Mr Wilson having to talk about every subject under the sun from satellites to the putative European air- bus to gas centrifuge: whereas the Germans threw in all their experts. No one would sug- gest that Anglo-German relations ought to be worsened by the signing of an Anglo-German friendship treaty. Nevertheless it is an odd state of affairs when de Gaulle, who is Presi- dent, brings his ministers; while Wilson, who is primus inter pares, does not.
Yet Mr Wilson in Bonn has a particular ad- vantage. The Germans, who have become very shrewd, tend to share his belief that he will win the next election. This is quite different from the view long ago stated by de Gaulle that Labour would hold power for a 'short and disastrous' period and that thereafter Britain would come round to a Gaullist way of think- ing. Germany's own general election will come in the autumn, and the SPD is now running surprisingly well. The SPD, as Labour's sister party, naturally wants to cultivate Mr Wilson; the Christian Democrats want to do the same to keep him away from the SPD. At the same time the Germans are coming to regard the future of France as one of great instability. Thus Mr Wilson could afford to be fairly blunt, as indeed on some subjects he was.
The airbus was one of them. The Germans claim to want a European-built airbus as a symbol of European cooperation. Another reason would be that compared with the British or French aircraft industries, the German air- craft industry has yet to get off the ground. The Germans want to build aircraft, the British want to sell them. Mr Wilson said very bluntly that the only feasible project was the Bac-311. That probably means, thanks to French objections and German susceptibilities to them, that there will be no European airbus. Meanwhile, the asc-311 is being kept in reserve to give the British aircraft industry something to do if and when Concorde is finally cancelled.
Still Mr Wilson puts these things over well. He had a phrase about the British aircraft in- dustry of the last fifteen years, variants of which he used at least three times in the course of a day: 'a desert track littered with the whitening bones of abortive projects under- taken at high cost' was one of them. He had obviously decided there was much to be gained from appearing as an expert on centri- fuge. This is a style totally different from Herr Kiesinger's, and in the circumstances very cap- tivating. He had a lunch with German busi- nessmen who talked about German investment in the less developed parts of Britain and Mr Wilson explained British industry's readiness to borrow on the German capital market— clearly the occasion had been carefully pre- pared. He also found time for a special session with German economic journalists, at which he apparently talked with a quite disarming frankness. The effect should not be under- estimated just because it sounds so typical.
Berlin, when it came, was a total anti-climax. Possibly it was the extreme cold, but there was something slightly furtive about the whole visit. The sentiments may have been magnificent, but there was a notable lack of response. Even the Biafran demonstrators failed to turn out in force. Mr Wilson was driven up to the Wall, but did not stop to look over. At lunch with the Mayor he quoted John Kennedy's 'ich bin em Berliner' to add, also in German, 'we are all Europeans—free Europeans.' The very auda- city of the reference was remarkable. Still the Germans won their point again: privately the British have great reservations about the wis- dom of holding the German presidential elec- tions in Berlin; publicly they have been obliged to come out in its support.
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