Indeed. the record shows that Ambassador Ridgway personally brought this case to the attention of the Secretary of State and secured his concurrence that the matter ought to be pursued at the highest possible levels. Third. it has been asserted that the Embassy handling of the Schnappauf case was conditioned by a desire not to jeopardize a projected trip to West Germany by the East German head of state. Erik Honecker. that an embarrassing incident involving political refugees might set back detente. It is true. Mr. President. that the projected Honecker visit was ultimately canceled. but for reasons that had little to do with political refugees. even those 55 refugees who had occupied the West German mission in East Berlin. Those of us following political developments in Germany throughout the summer of 1984 will recall that it was the Soviet Union which forced the East German Government to cancel the projected trip and for reasons that dealt primarily with SovietAmerican relations. the INF deployments in Europe. and the breakup of the arms control negotiations. In short.
Keywords matched
refugees