Conference files, lot 59 D 95, CF 108
No. 49
Department of State Press
Release
Statement by Secretary of State Dean Acheson on Signing of Contractual Agreements with Germany
Following is the text of a statement by Secretary of State Dean Acheson on the occasion of the signing at Bonn today of the Contractual Agreements with the Federal Republic of Germany:
The agreements that have been signed today are of great importance for each of the four countries represented here. The Federal Republic is attaining the independence in foreign affairs and authority [Page 110] in domestic matters which befit a free state. The United Kingdom, France and the United States, together with the other free nations, are welcoming a new partner in their great effort to establish peace and security in the world.
Let us take a moment to examine what these agreements mean and what they are intended to accomplish.
The relations which follow from these agreements are fundamentally such as exist between countries closely associated in peace and friendship. When the agreements enter into effect, the occupation will come to its formal close, and the Federal Government will deal with other governments on a normal basis. The United States Government is convinced that the agreements are just because problems arising from the war must be settled, and it is right to settle them in this fashion. The purpose of the agreements is to bring the occupation to an end, and this will be their effect.
There are still certain powers reserved to the United Kingdom, France and the United States. But the important thing to remember about these powers is that they are not retained for any reasons which have to do with the Federal Republic alone. They are related to other factors entirely-to the necessity for the presence in Germany of troops whose mission is the defense of German peace and freedom and of peace and freedom throughout the free world, and to the unhappy fact that Germany is still a divided country. When these conditions no longer exist, the powers retained to deal with them will be withdrawn.
It is a matter of great regret and concern to the American government that the task of restoring Germany as a whole is not completed. I feel deeply the absence on this occasion of those who might have represented the people of that part of Germany which is still under Soviet occupation. It would have been a more joyful occasion if they had been permitted to join us.
One of the great aims of the Western world, one of the great themes of its culture, and one of the great achievements of its people, has been freedom. Political and social freedom of the individual, freedom of his conscience and speech, have been what the West holds most dear. Since the end of the war the three powers have consistently worked to establish freedom throughout Germany, and their efforts have been met with invaluable cooperation on the part of the people of Western Germany and Berlin. Together we have succeeded in bringing freedom to the greater part of Germany, but until freedom can be extended to the entire country, and until all Germans—east and west—are reunited in freedom, the goal will not have been reached.
[Page 111]I can assure you of my Government’s continued determination to press steadily towards this goal, until the unity of Germany in freedom has become a reality.
In anticipation of the day when these agreements will have been accepted by the legislative bodies of our countries and will enter into effect, I wish to congratulate the Federal Republic on its new place among nations of the world. We have difficult problems ahead, and we can solve them only by working together. We are glad to have a new partner in this great cause. On behalf of the President of the United States and the American people, I welcomed the Federal Republic on its return to the community of nations.