Statement about the Treaty on the Basis of Relations with the GDR, 7 November 1972

On 8 November 1972, the Treaty on the Basis of Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR is initialled. In it the two German states agree on establishing equal-status, neighbourly relations. On the eve of the initialling, Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt states that the treaty breaks the ice in German-German relations. He is holding firmly to the goal of overcoming the division and “to realising self-determination for the entire German people.”
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