Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XV, Germany and Berlin

238. Telegram From the Embassy in Germany to the Department of State¹

Bonn, November 11, 1967, 1330Z.

5081. Nodis for the Secretary. Subject: German relations with Eastern Europe.

1. I will be guided by your thoughts contained in Dept’s 65712;² however, I assume that you do not wish to exclude US views on East-West issues as developed in our recent exchanges from the continuing dialogue which I and the Embassy conduct with the German FonOff and high German officials. The basic intention in our original proposal (A–459) was to reassure the FRG, in a low key, that their Eastern approach was within certain limits in harmony with our own—and to give them encouragement for the future. I do not see how such discussions if properly handled could have the opposite effect. That this is currently an active subject in Germany may be seen from Bonn’s 5077,³ describing Brandt’s press conference of Nov 10. There will undoubtedly be further discussions between Brandt and Tsarapkin here in Bonn—indeed a reply to Tsarapkin’s démarche on non-force declarations can be expected any day.⁴

2. The differences between Brandt and Kiesinger to which you refer hinge, on the surface, on different estimates of prospects for progress in discussions with the Sovs—rather than on the substance of discussions. The basic cause of the differences, however, is believed to be rivalry in the conduct of foreign policy.⁵ This means, I believe, that we must maintain parallel contact with Kiesinger and give him full advantage of our views. The existence of a rival channel for European security issues between yourself and Brandt through Bowie to which Kiesinger is not a party could, I believe, be misunderstood by Kiesinger.

3. I now have an appointment with Kiesinger for next Tuesday, prior to his departure for a trip to South Asia. It would seem the normal thing for me to discuss East-West issues with him. Indeed, he will unquestionably raise it. There is moreover little in our recommended course of action that I have not discussed with Kiesinger before. I am sure that the French, in particular, discuss such matters freely with the Germans. Our failure to do so will, in my judgment, give the Germans the impression that we have no ideas concerning Eastern policy or that we are disinterested as a result of preoccupation elsewhere. It would also lead to misunderstandings on our side, such as that which arose from the Brandt-Tsarapkin 14 point discussions, which was the principal reason why we raised this issue in the first place.

McGhee

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Germany, vol. 14. Secret; Immediate; Nodis. Repeated to Moscow for Ambassador Thompson.
2. Document 237.
3. Dated November 12. (Department of State, Central Files, POL 15–1 GER W)
4. The German reply was delivered on November 21. For text, see Documents on Germany, 1944–1985, pp. 966–971.
5. The Embassy reported on tensions between Brandt and Kiesinger in telegram 5066 from Bonn, November 9. (Department of State, Central Files, POL 1 GER W)