119. Telegram From Secretary of State Vance to the Embassy in the German Democratic Republic1
Secto 10027. Subject: Fischer Bilateral With Secretary.
1. Centerpiece of 45-minute bilateral between GDR Foreign Minister and Secretary September 30 was a US–GDR Consular Convention, with Fischer proposing a cultural agreement, too. They also touched upon US-Soviet relations, which both agreed had improved over the past ten days, and GDR–FRG relations, which Fischer, claimed were “better than their reputation”.
2. Referring to the Consular Convention as “the rock that might be moved from the road”, Fischer said that nationality was the key [Page 364] problem. “We cannot,” he said, “have dual nationalities without citizenship.” Recognizing, however, that we had made a Consular Convention “a prerequisite for other relations,” he said that he found the Secretary’s proposal of an agreement with a separate exchange of letters on the difficult nationality question “reasonable and workable”. Such “separate papers that would be a constituent part of the agreement” offered the possibility of success. Both agreed to ask their staffs to work out the details.
3. In closing, Fischer volunteered that his meeting earlier in the day with FRG Foreign Minister Genscher had “not been the first but the first of a constructive nature”. The two, he said, had discussed seeking accommodation on outstanding issues in a “businesslike manner”.2 The GDR, he concluded, will do all it can to improve its relations with the FRG because of their importance to Europe as a whole, but, he warned, “this does not mean that the GDR will change the priorities of its foreign policy”.
4. Full memcon follows septel.3
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D770359–0487. Confidential; Priority. Sent for information to the Department of State and Bonn.↩
- In telegram 16595 from Bonn, October 5, the Embassy reported the information received on the bilateral meeting from the West German representative to the Group of Four. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D770363–0936)↩
- No separate memorandum of conversation or telegram was found.↩