OPEN LETTER/ Come to the dialogue and listen to me speak, otherwise I will cut off your scholarships, you will rot in prison. Please!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

50 years ago the German-German agreement was signed and its similarity to the Franco-German plan for Kosovo

2022-12-21 18:44:25Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA ANILA SHUKA
50 years ago the German-German agreement was signed and its similarity to the
Egon Bahr and Michael Kohl during the signing of the German-German agreement on December 21, 1972

"Until now we had no relations, now we will have bad relations", said the West German negotiator after the signing of the German-German agreement on December 21, 1972

"The agreement that was signed today is the basis of the relationship between the two German states. It is the foundation on which relations will be built for the benefit of the people", with these words the then State Secretary at the Federal Chancellery Egon Bahr would announce the signing of German-German agreement.

For the social democratic politician, December 21, 1972 was a historic date. He and his East German counterpart Michael Kohl signed the German-German Basic Agreement.

"The agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR is a turning point for both German states - especially for the normalization of relations between them," Michael Kohl told the international press at the time. It can ensure that both states, without prejudiced against the opposite political orders in the future to coexist in peace and good neighborliness".

What did the German-German agreement of 1972 contain?

The German-German agreement was a preamble with ten articles and was accompanied by a series of contracting documents.

• In Article 1, it was agreed to develop good neighborly relations on the basis of equal rights.

• In Article 2, both states undertake to respect the principles of the United Nations.

• In Article 3, the parties undertake not to use violence in case of disputes and to respect each other's borders. However, the "inviolability of borders" does not exclude changing borders by mutual agreement.

• Article 4 determines that neither of the two states can represent the other internationally.

• In Article 5, both states promise to participate in the security and cooperation process in Europe and support disarmament efforts.

• In Article 6, both states agree to exercise their sovereign rights within the current territory and to respect each other's autonomy and independence in internal and external matters.

• Article 7 promises cooperation agreements in a number of fields (including economy, science, post and telecommunications, culture and sports).

• Article 8 regulates the exchange of Permanent Representatives.

• Article 9 states that the contract does not affect previous contracts.

• Article 10 regulates ratification and entry into force.

How was the German-German agreement of 1972 received by the signatories?

With this document, the GDR recognized for the first time the rights of the Four Powers, as well as the government of the Western Federal Republic as a legitimate representative of West Berlin. While the FRY allowed the GDR's membership in the UN:

"The agreement with the FRG contains the recognition of the inviolability of the borders and the recognition of the German Democratic Republic according to international law, as a sovereign and independent state", said Erich Honecker, head of the ruling Socialist Party, before the People's Assembly of the FRG.

Until 1969, Germany operated according to the so-called Hallstein doctrine: The Federal Government in Bonn saw itself as the sole representative for all Germans. When other states recognized the GDR, it was seen in Bonn as an unfriendly act. As a result, the FRG severed diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia and Cuba at the time.

This turn, of sudden de facto recognition of the GDR by the social-liberal government of Willy Brandt, was accompanied by bitter conflicts in domestic politics: In May of that year Brandt had successfully passed a vote of confidence on the matter, then Bavaria sued the agreement to the Constitutional Court, but the suit was dismissed in mid-1973 – the Constitutional Court found no violation of the constitution in it. In September 1973 the agreement entered into force.

What did the German-German agreement actually achieve?

The then West German negotiator Egon Bahr would write after signing the documents a note: Until now we had no relations, now we will have bad relations - this is progress".

And actually the relations between the two countries did not become friendly. But the agreement brought people from both sides of the border closer together: thanks to cultural, sports and other fields of cooperation, and this was the aim of the then chancellor Willy Brandt. "The basic agreement changed the GDR", said today for the German News Agency, dpa, the politician of the German left, Gregor Gysi, a witness of the time, then a lawyer in the GDR. "Suddenly, not only West German diplomats, but also journalists started coming to the country. Chronicles from the GDR were broadcast in the East through Western television.

December 21, 1972 did not go down in history as a holiday. However, the signing of the Basic Agreement brought a new development in German post-war history. And no one could have guessed that not even two decades later the GDR would disintegrate as a result of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The German-German agreement as a model for the normalization of Serbia-Kosovo relations?

The then agreement between the two German states is now serving as a model for a possible agreement between Serbia and Kosovo. The EU's official proposal is based on the Franco-German plan, which is so called since its first version was presented in September in a joint trip to Pristina and Belgrade, the adviser to the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, Jens Plötner and the adviser to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, Emmanuel Bonne.

So far the European plan is still being kept confidential. European and local media have however published several variants of this plan, and the similarity to the German-German plan is evident.

Even there they talk about good neighborly relations and equal rights, it is said that the parties must respect sovereign rights, independence, autonomy and territorial integrity, the right to self-determination, the protection of human rights and non-discrimination, in accordance with The Charter of the United Nations. Likewise, as in the German-German agreement, it is said to resolve disputes "by peaceful means and without threats of violence" There, too, it is said "that the parties do not represent each other or act on behalf of each other in the sphere international", for exchange of representations, etc.

Engjellushe Morina from the European Council for Foreign Affairs, ECFR, told DW that this is a very important plan and should be taken seriously by both parties. "There are elements that lead to a final agreement. The fact that mutual recognition of documents, respect for jurisdiction, respect for state symbols, equal treatment and many other elements are required means that Serbia recognizes Kosovo's independence as a reality.

Unlike the German-German Plan, the Franco-German plan has an advantage, because it explicitly talks about membership of two countries in the EU, and this is a good motive for cooperation between the two parties, says Morina. This opens the way for Serbia to conclude the 35th chapter of negotiations with the EU, where good neighborly relations are required, while for Kosovo, this means a framework to reach a final agreement with Serbia, which paves the way for its request for candidates of the EU to get a positive answer", Morina told DW.

Festive arrangement, or visiting diplomacy?

The meetings so far between Kurt and Vucic, mediated both by Lajcak in Brussels, and by Chancellor Scholz in Berlin, or President Macron in Paris, have not brought any rapprochement between Kosovo and Serbia in this matter. On the contrary, the conflicts have been deepening both in rhetoric and in deeds.

In these conditions, the question arises as to whether it is possible to reach a compromise when the leaderships of the countries are so hostile to each other, asks Beqë Cufaj, former ambassador of Kosovo in Berlin. Cufaj remembers the achievement of the German-German agreement in 1972, at the level of state secretaries, not with leaders, handshakes and loud noise. He envisions the same thing for the agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, if this is reached: I do not believe that it will be a joint meeting of the heads of state with a celebratory handshake, but there will be a "shuttle diplomacy" , says Cufaj and explains: "In these months there will be many trips of high-ranking diplomats from Washington, Brussels,DW


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×