Bush will remember Reagan’s visit to Germany in 1982

German critics of the global war against terrorism and its methods prepared their own “undertakings” that were timed at the American president’s visit to Germany. The adversaries of the American president set up an alliance, incorporating the Party of Democratic sSialism (former communists), as well as several youth and leftist organizations. The motto of the alliance is simple: “We do not need your wars, Mr. President!” The participants of the coalition believe that Bush came to Germany to make the German government involved in his plans, and American plans imply the continuation of the “global” war. The alliance believes that whole regions of the planet could become battlefields in that war. The members of the anti-American coalition believe that it could lead up to the use of the nuclear weapons. Germans do not like such a perspective, and they decided to let the American president know about it. The alliance, which calls itself the “axis of peace,” was supported by a many members of the parliamentary parties from the ruling coalition, Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung wrote.

German people compare Bush’s current visit with Ronald Reagan’s in 1982. He had to listen to a lot of uncomplimentary comments from Germans twenty years ago. The “Initiative for Peace and Disarmament” organized protests against Reagan's visits to Bonn and Western Berlin. It resulted with street fights and clashes with police on June 10, 1982 in Berlin.

The mentioned newspaper wrote that the Kremlin, the leadership of East Germany, and Stassi security service Stassi had a hand in the mess. The leader of the German Democratic Republic, Erich Honecker, was allegedly informed by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the USSR that the American administration was discussing the question of whether Reagan should go to the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin after the NATO summit. Americans were afraid, lest the events of September of 1981 should repeat themselves, when Secretary of State Alexander Haig had to eyewitness anti-American protests. It was written in a letter from the former Soviet leadership that, if the democratic force managed to get ready for anti-American demonstrations, then Reagan would not go to West Berlin. The Stassi set up an alliance of various groups that stood against the arms race. Now, there is no GDR, no Stassi, and no USSR, but the anti-military movement is still here, getting fresh energy from the anti-globalist environment. The Party of Democratic Socialism has grown stronger as well. The German government will do everything possible to prevent anti-American demonstrations, as they surely do not want George Bush to see them. However, Americans will have to take account of the European public opinion anyway.

Sergey Borisov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov