ABSTRACT
There are few states of any standing with which the GDR does not enjoy full diplomatic relations: Chile, Israel, South Africa and South Korea are among them, as is the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). However, unlike the other four states mentioned, the GDR has conducted formal relations with Bonn since the Basic Treaty establishing such relations came into force in June 1973. Under the Treaty, the two states affirmed the inviolability of the frontier between them ‘now and in the future’ and total respect for each other’s territorial integrity. Article 6 committed them to respecting each other’s independence and separateness (Unabhängigkeit und Selbständigkeit) in their internal and external affairs. They also agreed to exchange permanent representatives. Yet, despite this agreement, the Federal Republic does not classify these relations as normal diplomatic relations between foreign states. It does not regard the GDR as a foreign state nor does it regard its citizens as foreigners. It is merely a German state which is part of the same German nation as itself. The theory is ‘two states, one nation’.
