
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 21, 1990                   TAG: 9006210512
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BONN, WEST GERMANY                                LENGTH: Short

GERMANYS MERGING ECONOMIES

East Germany today overwhelmingly approved a treaty merging its economy with West Germany's, marking the biggest and most difficult step toward unification and the end of 40 years of socialism.

The vote in the East German Parliament for the historic treaty was 302-82, with one abstention.

Earlier in the day, East German lawmakers declared a united Germany would not seek to reclaim former lands ceded to Poland after World War II.

West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl urged lawmakers in his country to also pass the economic treaty and to promise that Poland's borders were secure.

The actions came as the parliaments of the two German states met simultaneously in their respective capitals to take final action on the treaty merging the economies of the Germanys by July 2.

On July 2, the powerful West German mark becomes the official tender for both countries, and East Germany moves toward a free-market economy.

Political unification is now seen as a possibility before year's end.

by CNB