Mission to Moscow and Paris

West Germany's Ostpolitik, carped Radio Moscow, "has become lost in a fog of uncertainty." As if to prove that he really is determined to establish better relations with his Communist neighbors to the east, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt last week dispatched his chief foreign policy adviser, Egon Bahr, on an urgent mission to Moscow. And what happened? Bahr's plane was fogbound at the Cologne/Bonn airport. After a short delay, however, Bahr finally arrived in Moscow and spent six hours conferring with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. There was no indication whether the talks, which resume this week, would be any warmer than Moscow's -- 15DEGF. temperatures.

Bahr's assignment caught just about everyone by surprise. Brandt decided to use the dramatic gesture as a litmus of Soviet intentions. In three sessions last month with West German Ambassador Helmut Allardt, Gromyko set forth hard conditions, including Bonn's recognition of East Germany, before Moscow would consider signing a renunciation-of-force treaty with West Germany.

Bahr's assignment was to determine whether the Soviets were only stringing the West Germans along. Brandt would like to start Soviet talks as soon as possible in hopes that Moscow's example would induce East Germany's Walter Ulbricht to follow suit. He would also like to have at least one other set of East bloc talks running so that the Poles, who start negotiations with the West Germans in Warsaw this week, will not feel isolated.

Bahr, who is one of three state secretaries in the chancellery, is Brandt's Henry Kissinger. A former journalist who became Brandt's press spokesman and confidant during the Chancellor's days as mayor of West Berlin, Bahr is an originator and still a fervent advocate of the Ostpolitik. Some West German politicians regard him as naive about the Soviets. Brandt is aware of these misgivings but apparently felt that Moscow might ease its tough line a bit when confronted with Bonn's most vocal exponent of better relations.

While Bahr attended to Ostpolitik, Brandt spent some time on Bonn's somewhat neglected Westpolitik. In a 36-hour official visit to Paris, Brandt sought to reassure French President Georges Pompidou that Bonn's initiatives toward the East would not jeopardize West European security. Though Pompidou seemed to be satisfied with Brandt's pledges, the French in general are suspicious about German intentions. Increasingly, the French press is filled with articles reflecting fears that the Germans might link up the East bloc against West Europeans. Unlikely as that may be, Brandt nonetheless must realize that his emphasis on better relations with the East could result in worse relations with France.

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