A Triumph for Brandt

Since his election last year as Chancellor of West Germany, ruggedly handsome Willy Brandt has been hailed as one of Western Europe's most charismatic and skillful statesmen. Last week he lived up to his reputation. The longtime Socialist mayor of West Berlin flew into Washington for two days of talks with President Nixon and made a persuasive case for continued U.S. support of his efforts to ease cold-war tensions. He also assured himself of a role in any further discussions about the future of the Continent.

Brandt spent the early part of the week inspecting West German troops training with U.S. forces in Texas. Tanned by the Texas sun and rested after 2 1/2 days in the seclusion of Camp David, Brandt alighted from a blue Mercedes with his attractive Norwegian wife Rut, to be greeted on the White House lawn by President Nixon. Cannons boomed out a 16-gun salute, and the red-jacketed Marine band struck up the traditional Deutschlandlied. The Brandts were also feted at a gala White House dinner and entertained by the redoubtable Pearl Bailey. To the tune of Hello, Dolly, Miss Bailey belted out "Hello, Richard" in honor of the evening's host, added a chorus of "Hello, Willy" in honor of the guest.

But Brandt's visit was more than pomp and ceremony. Pressure has been building in the budget-conscious Senate for further reductions in the present 310,000-man level of U.S. troops in Europe. Brandt was concerned that premature troop cuts might undermine his efforts to negotiate a mutual force reduction with the Warsaw Pact nations. Speaking before the National Press Club, he argued that the efficiency of the NATO alliance depended upon a continued U.S. military presence on the European Continent. Said Brandt, in his excellent, lightly accented English: "There is no security for Europe without the United States."

On this question, Nixon and Brandt see eye to eye. Despite the pressure for reductions, the President has already agreed to maintain existing troop levels in Europe at least through mid-1971. Last week he took special pains to lay to rest Brandt's chief worry about his U.S. visit--that he would return home with, in his words, "less G.I.s and more money to pay." At Camp David, Nixon's adviser for national-security affairs, Dr. Henry Kissinger, assured the Chancellor that the U.S. would make no further reductions until after a review of NATO strategy, due to be completed in May, established what troops were needed.

Ostpolitik. With this thorny issue out of the way, Brandt and Nixon held two meetings at which each had a chance to take the other's measure. Both were impressed with what they saw. Nixon brought Brandt up to date on U.S. efforts in Asia and the Middle East. Brandt briefed Nixon on his Ostpolitik, or Eastern policy, and later gave newsmen a concise explanation of the rationale behind his attempts to improve relations with Eastern Europe. "Just as NATO is a reality, as West Berlin with its relationships with the Federal Republic is a reality," said Brandt, "so is the Warsaw Pact, so are the two states in Germany, so are the frontiers of Poland. We have to start from these realities if we want to improve relations with the Soviet Union, seek reconciliation with the Polish people, and mitigate the distressing division of our country." Nixon and Brandt also discussed Britain's impending entry into the Common Market and the impact of an enlarged European Economic Community on U.S. interests; the Chancellor was receptive to the idea of an outward-looking European union.

Though no major agreements were reached during the discussions, no major differences developed, either, and Brandt in particular had good cause to be pleased. He had come to Washington to impress upon both Nixon and Congress the necessity of greater cooperation between the U.S. and Germany. As he left Washington to view the Apollo 13 launching at Cape Kennedy, with Administration assurances still ringing in his ears, he had good reason to believe that he had succeeded.

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