Honecker Presses Bonn Recognition : E. German Secures Summit Pledge From Kohl of Return Visit

BONN —  East German leader Erich Honecker today demanded full West German diplomatic recognition of his country and secured a promise of a return visit by Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

The two-day summit between the East German and West German leaders was marked by Kohl’s insistence on a goal of German reunification and Honecker’s flat rejection of the idea.

At the end of the summit, Bild newspaper quoted a high-ranking West German official as saying Honecker had lifted shoot-to-kill orders during escape attempts along the border.

The Communist Party chief started his visit by flatly ruling out any moves towards reuniting the two German nations formed in 1949 after the defeat of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

Wolfgang Meyer, a spokesman for the East German Foreign Ministry, said Honecker urged West Germany today to fully recognize “the German Democratic Republic as a sovereign state.”

Bonn Refuses Recognition

East Germany and West Germany do not have normal diplomatic relations because Bonn refuses to recognize East Germany as a foreign country. The preamble to the West German Constitution calls for the reunification of Germany.

Kohl, meanwhile, accepted an invitation to visit East Germany, with the date and details to be agreed on later.

At a news conference, Kohl’s chief of staff, Wolfgang Schaeuble, spoke in general terms about the discussions on the shoot-to-kill orders but did not comment directly on the report by Bild.

“There was a certain agreement to the extent that both sides want there to be no shooting on the border,” said Schaeuble. He declined to be more specific.

According to Bild, the 75-year-old Honecker made the assurances in talks with Kohl, who condemned the shoot-to-kill orders at the start of Honecker’s trip Monday. (Story on Page 4.)

The two sides made progress in several areas during the summit, which included the signing of a technical and scientific cooperation agreement.