Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990 TAG: 9003212232
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BONN, WEST GERMANY LENGTH: Medium
The Bonn government also stepped up pressure on its new East German allies to decide quickly on the future governing coalition in East Berlin.
Volker Ruehe, chief of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democratic Union, conferred in East Berlin with leaders of the three-party conservative alliance that placed first in Sunday's East German elections. Among them was Lothar de Maiziere, chairman of the East German Christian Democratic Union and likely new premier.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the Cabinet decided to end the resettlement program on July 1. Arriving East Germans then will stop receiving special treatment.
West Germany has about 61 million people and East Germany about 16 million.
Nearly 500,000 East Germans have resettled in West Germany in the last 14 months. The exodus has devastated East Germany's economy, strained West German housing and job markets, and worn out many West Germans' patience for the newcomers.
Schaeuble said Bonn expects major steps toward unification following Sunday's election and improved conditions for East Germans would make special aid unnecessary.
"We assume that by summer we will be able to achieve a currency, economic and social community," he said.
The two Germanys are negotiating a monetary union in which the West German mark would replace East Germany's currency. They plan other links as part of an "economic union" to help rescue East Germany's run-down economy and prepare for unification.
West Germany further plans to provide massive social assistance to East Germans as the nations come closer together.
Hans Klein, Kohl's chief spokesman, said the next steps toward unification were the main topic at the Cabinet meeting.
by CNB