with the german democratic ambassador. i welcome your interest in what is going on in the republic. to make some like , i willary remarks and be ready to take your questions. the german events in democratic republic represents a radical change with the past. is a revolutionary renewal of socialism. , even if manys have been surprised by the speed

and extent, have not happened overnight. thanksve become possible to the new thinking introduced by the soviet union and other socialist countries in which my country has a part. this policy has radically changed the international anuation and created atmosphere for moving from the to a policy of relaxation of tensions and cool operation with more people -- cooperation with more people. the current events have become

possible and necessary because of a number of objective and derived fromasons the socialist society in the recent years. way, unthinkable a few months ago, people have change.d a wish for a they have demonstrated their willingness to play a decisive in -- decisive role in shaping the future of the country. despite the achievements in the past year, new things have come

challenges and of ourical restructuring society has become an inevitable. assessmenty critical and the recentn meetings of the socialist unity been of germany has extraordinary importance. come with ahas far-reaching program of action which will radically change the the way the gdr

will be governed. people alleging that .hese changes are cosmetic that they are wrong. mistrust andims of suspicion. the opening of the borders and the berlin wall for all citizens of my country is his storage -- historic. it is a permanent measure. opening up new avenues for assurance ofhe

peace and cool operation among people. on, strengthening society will be active with all expressing their interests. prepared to continue to play an active role in creating world.e and peaceful it is a great challenge to us and to others to compete with us ,eacefully in democracy ideology, economy, and human rights. has always been at

the forefront of those who have come for peace and stability in europe. it is a predictable partner. i have carefully listened to the official reaction of president baker aboutretary the developments in my country. .he reactions are encouraging i hope that we will open up a ith and bilateral .elations thank you.

>> there are reports that the government plans to open a new point in the berlin wall. do you plan to open up further portions? >> it is possible. people try to visit west berlin the checkpoints are not enough. .t is possible it was announced by the minister of the -- >> do you believe the entire wall will be torn down? >> we should not have illusions. is not simply a a dividedine between

city. been alin wall has anderline between states between the two most powerful military alliances. gdr and theetween federal republic of germany will exist. circumstances -- it would be no different at the country.th any other

>> will the wall physically disappear? changeill completely character. >> is there going to have to be more reform? home is a people at question of society. andle should feel at home be a attracted by the society. not opening the border. the problem is what i tried to explain to you. the problem is to build wouldtive socialism that

be so attractive that no one would want to leave it. changes and what had been made up until now. >> will you open for pluralistic elections? >> our head of state has for a free is open dialogue on how to handle problems, including the opening of general and free elections in my country. , who up to the parliament when itvene to discuss is appropriate to hold such .lections

it will not be tomorrow morning. see a date where there will be a unified germany? >> in my dreams, yes. with both ofician my feet on the earth, i do not see it. no possibility for united germany in the first yearbook future under present -- in the foreseeable future under present circumstances. it's not old-fashioned policy. are that there are two integrated states into military alliances that guarantee stable balance of power and, on the other hand, i

they would like publicme a federal drug -- republic or a sovereign state. nosently, there are conditions for a united germany. >> would you be willing to put it to a vote? >> could there be a unified berlin before a unified germany? it is possible. the federal republic of germany

and west berlin -- it is under occupation. i do not see any possibility for uniting. >> you say you have two states that are divided militarily between the nato and warsaw pa c cts. isn't it possible that president bush and gorbachev will be deciding the future of germany? superpowers and small states. they have a right to live and decide on their destiny will bep it is not a matter to discussed by gorbachev and bush. it is a matter to be discussed

on the basis of the right to self-determination and the people in the german democratic , again, i think this is a question that does not objective in central europe. we have to be very realistic. allow this event to get out of control by introducing things that are not ready for solutions. we should introduce things that are feasible. >> i know diplomats are not supposed to talk about their personal feelings. would you share your personal feelings? >> of course.

i have always had my own feelings. 1968, having my apartment 100 yards from the border with mixed feelings. i would have wanted for the wall to never have been arrested. -- erected. i think the wall has maintained peace. of theter the erection gdr became more reasonable. of theter the erection wall, was a possible to have treaties that recognize the sovereignty of european states and borders.

a historianyed role. you get a car. you do not like the car. -- accept it. mitchell andders dole say that this signals the end of communism. is that accurate? >> i have heard such comments. such protections -- predic tions are not new to me. in 1949, i was 21 and i remember

-- is not livable. 1.5 years and it will be over. 53. then came 19 the same was said. it is over, the socialism. considerableered economic damage in the 1960's and it was said that the wall catastrophe and the failure of socialism. we are not surprised. let me tell you. is that we will come out stronger of the crisis -- from the crisis.

you are all human beings. what courage is necessary to say what is wrong. this and that we have to correct. to stand up and come up with a program of action oriented towards the future. that is a good sign. we will come out much stronger from the crisis than we were. >> talk about what is feasible. what is feasible in the short run? >> what i foresee is establishing and developing normal relations between all countries concerned. particularly the federal republic of of germany.

between the german republic. number of -- a that could be removed easily. they are pretending a custodianship of our citizens. this has a negative impact on our relations. accordancenot in with agreements and principles enshrined in the document. each country is a sovereign country and has to be respected. the citizens have to be treated as such. necessity forno

establishing specific treatment. there are other obstacles. onwant to agree with germany fruitful and constructive corporation. -- cooplk rate and eration. we want to develop strong and relations.omic that is what is doable. that is what is feasible and could be done in the near future. qwest will there be a meeting -- held, whations are do you think the chances are of the government staying in power? >> would we come out for free elections if we didn't hope to win? >> what if a non-communist government was elected. -- elected?

>> elections carried this risk. up the the party give constitutional role as the leading party in east germany? will you surrender that? >> that is something i really cannot tell you now. i am not a member of the parliament. that has to be decided by the parliament. on a personal note, i would like to say that the leading role of implementednnot be or by paper. what is necessary is what we are striving to do. demonstrate to the public and every citizen of my

country that we are the leading are innd our programs the interest of all of our citizens. support of the broadest majority. that is our aim and what we are striving for. it is a hard job. we are facing the realities and the challenges with that. chancellorssador, kohl spoke of unity today. are there any plans to meet with mr. kohl? when do you expect a meeting? >> you are asking too much. i do not know the plans. this will be announced at the appropriate time. comenk that the time will

when they will meet and discuss whatever has come up in connection. ambassador, things have moved quickly. you have defend the existence of the wall. do you thinktime, the wall would be removed? >> what removed? >> the berlin wall. >> i think i have given an answer to this at the beginning of the interview. >> considering what has happened, irreversible and permanent? >> do you envision a reduction of soviet troops? if that happens in east or west germany, can you envision the warsaw pact and nato being

dismantled? >> to reduce conventional armed forces in europe, as a result of these negotiations, which, i hope will come to an agreement in the next year, it is quite troops might be reduced in countries, including western countries. they have their troops here. >> have there been contacts between the united states government and your government in berlin or here regarding developments? what would you like the u.s. government to do? >> what we have done is no secret. havei told you that things

been introduced only two weeks ago. presentations of deputy foreign ministers of affairs. minister met and thereng people was talk about what is going on in the gdr. being inntinuing contact and exchanging. ambassadors are never satisfied. i think we have done a lot. we could do more.

>> do have any idea how long it will be before things settle back into what might be called normalcy? >> it will depend on the attitude of all the parties involved. what is going on will be parties soberly and all draw a realistic conclusions , it could be a smooth transition. that thesent to hide developments are very dangerous to gettinguld lead out of control to a bigger country which none of us want.

conflict between the armed .orces states forces, british forces, arefoes, are only a fews away. that it leads to a conflict. that is what we would like to sensitiveuse of the .ocation central europe. ofgiving the same sort

events will happen in germany that we saw happen in china this summer? >> i don't think so. that it is the firm intentions of our to solve all problems by political means and peacefully. what kind of miscalculation would lead to conflict? >> let's have a demonstration involvedpeople being shooting,tones, explosions, a grenade or something. some like that could hit a military installation or a fly

would -- a plane would fly over. of auld be the outbreak tense situation, at least. >> there are pictures from the wall of people on top of the wall trying to tear it down with their hands and tearing off big chunks of the wall. does this give you any concern? are these the sorts of actions that you think rich richer -- could trigger that? pictures of this. nobody intervenes. as long as they're sitting on , if that is fun for them, let them do so. we have seen pictures of concrete being worn off of the wall. does this give you any concern that things could turn ugly.

-- ugly? >> no. >> you said that the wall was necessary and that this is a step forward for socialism. the wall was there to hold people back and to break the will of the people who wanted to leave the communist world. saying that the communist world is going to become attractive for people. how we do that -- will you do that? will create a society that citizens needs of our in any area. that is what we are striving for. you should not forget that there

race-- there was an arms and extraordinary measures taken between the two systems at that time. we were in the middle of this conflict. the time has changed and we have to understand that times have hopeed and stop we have a that, thanks to the negotiations taking place between the soviet , wen and the united states will make progress in all of this will create a necessary echoing changes inside of our countries. that is what we are trying to do. >> the cold war is over?

>> you see, the new society we take aaming of will certain length of time. take capitalism. how long does it take to build capitalism? still, capitalism is not perfect. it will be a long process. >> thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> each week, we take you on a journey through the 20th century.

film d cat -- this 1963 events -- .gency film details of events >> on the other side of this , the communist government will not let them out. walls of them built to keep out invading armies. wall to keepirst an entire country from fleeing. fleeing into west berlin.