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"What I would be interested in is whether it's true that we still today ... and I take
this suggestion from the Stuttgarter Zeitung (newspaper) ... that we today are still so
to speak under Occupation Statute, which means that, if the case arises where the previous
victorious powers can issue instructions for the Federal Republic of Germany or the government
respectively. The background then is that we don't have a Peace Treaty up to this day,
and only if we had a Peace Treaty the Occupation Statute would be obsolete. No government since
the foundation of the Federal Republic ever accounted for this subject. ..." Moderator:
"Guess .. I guess it hit home ... as a question." "Yes. What would you, as you are perfectly
linked up in the world and also find much recognition, could we accomodate, now that
almost seventy years have passed since the second world war, to the situation that the
Germans might be on a par with other peoples and you, in your new government, then take
up this issue and finally might arrive at a good success. That's my question." Merkel,
cutting him short: "Anyway, I think we already progressed a fair way now. First thing was
with the Unification Treaty ... well, uh, uh ... with the 'Two Plus Four Agreement'
uh, actually the German sovereignty was reconstituted, and we now realized that there were old agreements
of 1968 when in Germany the so-called G 10-Gesetz (G 10-Law) had made ... was made, which regulates
the work of intelligence agencies, that there were still agreements with the three All...,
the three western Allies ... uh ... which indicated that in certain cases .. uh .. if
I may say so, the sovereignty of our intelligence would not have been completely guaranteed.
And now we used all of the discussions about the cooperation of the intelligence agencies
to terminate those old so-called 68 agreements with France, Great Britain AND the United
States of America quite formally by exchange of verbal notes, as this is called, to terminate
and thus our sovereignty is also reconstituted in this last field and I think in doing so
we solved the problem." Applause "This took place a few days ago." Moderator: "The gentleman
at the very front ...? .... uh, just a second ...."