The Aims and Responsibilities of German Foreign Policy

MR. ARMSTRONG:

Distinguished head table, ladies and gentlemen.

The Empire Club of Canada is highly favoured by the presence on this occasion of a very distinguished international statesman to whom we extend a warm welcome.

Our Club calendar of events is normally barren from the end of April to the beginning of October, but the summer of '73 has been exceedingly fruitful in that this is the third special meeting, all involving guest speakers of international prominence.

We were earlier addressed by the Editor of The Times of London, Mr. William Rees-Mogg, and by the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Today we continue our tradition of providing a forum for the presentation of important and timely messages of national and international significance.

Our guest of honour, Walter Scheel, Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, comes to Canada as a gracious emissary of his government immediately following the admission of his great resurgent nation to membership in the United Nations Assembly, which Assembly he addressed only last week.

Walter Scheel was born in Solingen, the capital of West Germany's cutlery industry, just a stone's throw from the giant blast furnaces of the Ruhr and adjacent to the teeming city of Cologne.

On completion of his schooling he was employed in a bank, but was drafted for military service in World War II and became a fighter pilot.

Soon after the end of the war, Mr. Scheel became a partner in two market research firms and headed a number of business associations. At the same time he actively pursued his political interests as a member of the Free Democratic Party. In 1948 he was elected to the City Council of Dusseldorf, entered the State Parliament of North Rhine Westphalia in 1950 and in 1953 was elected a member of the Bundestag. In 1955 Mr. Scheel became a member of the European Parliament and practically a commuter between Bonn and the Cathedral City of Strasbourg, France. He was the representative of the Free Democratic Party in the European Parliament. This set the stage for his entry as a full-fledged Cabinet Minister. He was elected President of the committee for co-operation with the developing countries in the European Parliament. He showed himself to be an expert in industrial programmes for the vast regions of what were later to be known as the Third World. He travelled to Africa, Asia and Latin America to gain first-hand knowledge of conditions in these areas, bringing home with him interesting new ideas for development aid. In 1957, at thirty-eight, he was returned to the Bundestag for his second term and he became his party's spokesman on cartel control and competition, the business situation, West European integration, and development-aid policy.

In 1961 he persuaded Chancellor Adenaur to form a special ministry to handle aid. Mr. Scheel's proclaimed philosophy on the subject was, "God helps him who helps his neighbour", and his hard sell message to businessmen was "The countries to be opened up today are the markets of tomorrow".

In the year 1969, the Federal Republic of Germany provided development aid from private and public funds to the tune of DM 8,900,000,000 of which the private sector made up nearly 73%.

Mr. Scheel in 1961 was appointed Federal Minister for Economic Co-operation in a coalition government formed by the Christian Democrats and the Christian Socialists. In 1966 his party went into opposition.

In 1968 Mr. Scheel was elected National Chairman of the Free Democratic Party and led his party as Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister into coalition with the Social Democratic Party. He was reappointed after the coalition's victory in the election in November 1972. We in Canada are not as sophisticated in the formation of coalition governments as our German friends but there are some who suggest that we presently have an informal coalition.

In foreign affairs our guest of honour has shown himself to be a master diplomat and a proponent of rapprochement with eastern neighbours. He played a major role in Moscow in the summer of 1970 in preparing the Bonn-Moscow treaty for signing.

On the lighter side, the following anecdote discloses a real sense of humour and wit in our speaker. In 1966, when the grand coalition caused him to lose his cabinet rank, he had been committed as Minister to host a Unesco dinner in Paris and Chancellor Erhard to save embarrassment asked him to continue as host. Mr. Scheel agreed. The then Czechoslovakian Minister of Culture in expressing his thanks said, "You know, Herr Scheel, I believe I am the first Czechoslovakian Minister to be entertained by a German one", to which Herr Scheel replied, "Now you see Herr Minister, with what finesse we Germans play foreign politics. I managed to arrange, a few hours before our evening began, to resign. "

This personable man is known in the tabloid press as "handsome Walter" a charmer, adored by the ladies. He is fond of good literature, Bach's organ music, French cuisine and rum cocktails.

I am proud to present to this audience Mr. Walter Scheel, Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, who will address us on the subject "The Aims and Responsibilities of German Foreign Policy".

Mr. Scheel.

MR. SCHEEL:

When a representative of one of the world's smaller countries gets up to address such a distinguished gathering of representatives of the world's second largest country he might easily feel somewhat self-conscious. But the cordial reception you have given me dispels any such feeling. And this does not surprise me for one of the officials of my ministry who is currently Ambassador in Tanzania was treated so well in the province of Ontario, even though he was then a prisoner-of-war, that he could not rest until he obtained the posting as consul-general in Toronto. And although I want to say something today about renunciation of force, I must frankly admit we have found it impossible to transfer German consuls in Toronto back to headquarters without threatening to use force.

It is a great privilege and unqualified pleasure to speak to you today, and I wish to thank you, Mr. President, for your kind invitation. Following a long line of distinguished personalities from all parts of the world, I gladly take the opportunity to address this Club on my country's aims and problems. And I do this all the more willingly as many of them are aims or problems we have in common. Shared suffering is halved suffering is a German saying. I would add that shared success gives twice the pleasure.

Immediately before my visit to Canada I attended an eventful session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It was a very special occasion for us Germans, for on September 18 the Assembly approved the accession of the two German States.

The Federal Republic of Germany is no newcomer to the United Nations family. It has been a member of all the specialized agencies and numerous commissions for the past ten years or so, and over that period of time it has proved its willingness and ability to serve the lofty aims of the Charter, and of the statutes of the specialized agencies. It is determined, now as a full member, to render an active contribution in the political sphere also to the efforts of the World Organization to foster co-operation and peace among the nations.

The Federal Republic's road to full membership of the United Nations has been long. After the First World War, the German Reich had to wait seven years before it was admitted to the League of Nations, but from the end of the Second World War to German membership in the United Nations almost half a lifetime has passed. This has not been the fault of our friends and allies in the West. The causes lay in the political situation in Europe and Germany which results from the Second World War. Taking that situation as our starting point, we set about the task of gradually dismantling the political obstacles between East and West.

The first major steps in this direction were the Moscow Treaty of 12 August, and the Warsaw Treaty of 7 December, 1970. With these treaties the Federal Republic has placed its relations with the Soviet Union and Poland on a new basis. Those treaties made possible the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin of 3 September, 1971. As a result of that agreement and the agreements between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic which have given substance to it, the city has again become an important centre for Germans from the two states to meet. Thus, a point of critical confrontation of the superpowers has become a place for contacts. On the basis of that agreement and in agreement with the three Western allies who exercise supreme authority in the city, the Federal Republic of Germany will be able to make its full contribution to the work of the United Nations with the inclusion of West Berlin.

Naturally, this does not mean that the problems between East and West in central Europe have been resolved. The Eastern treaties do not yet usher in the golden age on the old continent: this is clear enough from the problems with which we are still confronted in bilateral dealings. I myself have, from the very beginning, warned about exaggerated hopes regarding our Ostpolitik and about seeing things through rose-coloured spectacles, but this policy is a realistic basis for conducting the progress of normalization and detente. In Germany itself the Treaty on the Basis of Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, which entered into force on 21 June this year, has created the foundations for regulated relations between the two German states.

I should like to explain one or two points about this treaty. It does not represent a final solution of the German question. Indeed it keeps it open. In the case of the Basic Treaty, too, the Federal Government has reaffirmed its constitutional obligation to work for a state of peace in Europe in which the German people can regain their unity through free self-determination.

The German nation today lives in two mutually independent states. The aim of the treaty is to prevent the Germans from drifting further apart. The fact that the two states still have their differences over the national question and other matters such as nationality is explicitly stated in the treaty. But the accord has also created possibilities for cooperation in many fields, and it has opened up the way to our joint accession to the United Nations.

Now I come to my country's wider neighbouring region, Europe. German foreign policy starts from the fact that Europe, in the heart of which we Germans live, is an entity that has grown together over many centuries. Its various elements are linked together by common traditions, a common destiny, and the cultural heritage of the European nations. No act of force can remove these common features. All the same, this does not alter the fact that this continent has been cut in two by the war and subsequent events.

The dividing line runs right through the middle of Germany. It is an artificial division which has produced increasingly different social and economic systems. Today it also rests on fear of any change brought about by force.

Force, ladies and gentlemen, we all agree, is today less than ever a suitable means of creating a better order in the life of nations. Only in peace and in freedom can Europe develop. Only peace and mutual respect can lead to the full development of the energies and capabilities of the old continent.

Hence the Federal Republic's foreign policy can only be a policy for peace. Ever since the Federal Republic came into being, each of its governments has worked for the consolidation of peace. The democracies of Western Europe and North America held out the hand of reconciliation and co-operation soon after the war was over. That reconciliation has stood the test in times of crisis and of threat. We shall never forget that in such times Canada has always stood at our side. The presence of your troops in our country is a symbol of that solidarity.

However, it is not enough to rely solely on the military cohesion of the Atlantic Alliance for the maintenance of peace. We must consolidate that peace by systematically removing tensions and their cause and by defusing the elements of conflict. In all our efforts of recent years to normalize relations with Eastern Europe we have been in agreement with your government. To us there can be no alternative to peaceful cooperation on the continent of Europe.

Differences in political and social systems should not be an obstacle to this. It must be possible for every nation to live in the way of its own free choice. No dialectical acrobatics, however skilful, will make walls, deathstrips and automatic shooting devices instruments of good neighbourhood. They are, and will remain, demonstrations against peaceful co-operation. Our aim is gradually to nurture in Eastern Europe as well trust and faith in a peaceful future which will make the inhuman arsenal of delimitation an untenable anachronism.

Recent developments give us reason to be cautiously optimistic. But in the process of detente which we and our allies are trying to facilitate, advance concessions are untenable. We do not know if such advances of confidence will be repaid in kind. In fact they could lead the other side into a great temptation. Perhaps they take the same attitude as James, who said: "My brothers, whenever you have to face trials of many kinds, count yourselves supremely happy."

Defence preparedness and alertness are the prerequisites to detente and peace. On this score we appreciate Canada's major contribution within NATO. I wish to stress this fact here because I am told the province of Ontario accounts for half of Canada's gross national product and tax revenue, and greater Toronto for a quarter. And from the many budget debates in which I have taken part-if you will excuse the usual euphemism "debate"-I know what this defence contribution means to the taxpayer.

I am most gratified that the Canadian Government and we fully concur on the basic lines of our security policy. As you know, negotiations between East and West are currently taking place within two frameworks: the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, the second phase of which is now beginning in Geneva, and Mutual Balanced Force Reductions. In the latter case the preparatory talks in Vienna have paved the way for the first round of negotiations in the autumn.

Both conferences, which are substantively connected with each other, could mean a major step towards improving the application in Europe of the principles of the United Nations. Our aim in this connection is to build bridges of ca-operation between the two systems. We know that this is also the wish of the Canadian Government, which played such a constructive and valuable part at the Helsinki Conference and in the Vienna preparatory talks. We share the Canadian view that Canada's security increases in the measure as Europe's security increases. This maxim of inter-dependence is the source not only of Canada's interest in participating in European developments but also of our own interest in close co-operation with Canada.

The Atlantic Alliance has given our countries security in the present and confidence for the future. Our co-operation within the Alliance has been worthwhile. Storms and crises have strengthened the cohesion of our countries.

But the field of friendly co-operation between the Federal Republic and Canada does not end here. In various international organizations we have long maintained close bilateral relations in the economic, technological and scientific fields. The main area of this co-operation has been trade, which has reached a high level. Much of the credit for this goes to the Canadian-German Chamber of Commerce, which I am delighted to hear is represented here by its President and many of its members. All this is very gratifying and it can be made even better.

Canada has always been sympathetic towards European integration, but I know that the development of the Common Market, particularly since its enlargement to nine members, has created problems for Canada's government and economy. The Federal Government hopes that it will be possible to find solutions to these, too, by means of the existing machinery, and perhaps also on the basis of additional agreements. The solutions agreed upon must give Canada in its relations with the European Market the place which befits its growing importance and economic potential.

As you know, Canada is very popular with German investors. The difference between the situation on your labour market and ours as well as the new currency parities have further stimulated interest in industrial investment. Raw materials are another sector in which close co-operation is quite feasible. Other possibilities are afforded by the German-Canadian-agreement of 1971 on scientific and technological cooperation. Numerous projects, some already being implemented, others still in the pre-study stage, testify to the value of this agreement.

In the cultural sphere we hope to reach an agreement which will place our long-standing friendly relations on a contractual basis which can be developed further. There already exists a broad foundation for this in both countries in the form of generations-old personal and family ties.

Ladies and gentlemen, through our constant partnership in the face of international dangers, Canada has become a close and trusted partner to Germany. In recent decades two German rivers, the Elbe and the Werra, have been a far greater obstacle than the huge expanse of the North Atlantic. This feeling of proximity needs to be given substance. I say this as a German and as a European. We want to gain a more accurate picture of Canada and of its identity, and I feel that you too want to become more acquainted with Europe's aims and problems.

We shall be able to derive considerable gain from such thorough knowledge of each other: for ourselves, for our work and for all the tasks we have to accomplish in our neighbourhood. Your neighbours are ours, and your problems should be ours too. And therefore I am looking forward very hopefully to my talks with your Foreign Secretary, Mr. Mitchell Sharp. We have allowed ourselves two days for our meeting and we want to cover all subjects of common interest. As you see, this leaves out hardly any aspect of foreign affairs, for the future of our two countries leads through the solution of common problems and the surmounting of common risks to common goals.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

Mr. Scheel was thanked on behalf of The Empire Club of Canada by Mr. R. Bredin Stapells.