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Article: Relegitimizing East Germany; A Link With Poland and Czechoslovakia Would Give It a New Role
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 12, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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THE DANGEROUS doctrine is taking root in the West that the
collapse of Stalinist communism in East Germany removes that regime's
sole basis of formal legitimacy and that German unification is
therefore unavoidable. There is, however, an alternative that
provides the West an escape from unification's dilemmas and East
Germany with a substitute legitimacy.
That alternative is to link, institutionally and economically and
within an evolving Warsaw Pact (or any future security complex),
Eastern Europe's vital northern tier: East Germany, Poland and
Czechoslovakia.
We have seen similar grouping efforts in the region before. But
such a sub-grouping would not be merely another Little Entente, ...