Wir leben heute in einem Europa, für das Willy Brandt die Fundamente legte. Darauf bauen wir mit einer neuen europäischen Ostpolitik auf. Die weitere Aussöhnung mit unseren östlichen Nachbarn, besonders Polen, bleibt unsere große Aufgabe. #50JahreKniefall https://t.co/9hccMZerXv
— Heiko Maas ?? (@HeikoMaas) December 7, 2020
In return, the USSR and its European satellite states began to normalise relations with West Germany, thus taking the sting out of one of the most explosive fronts in the Cold War.
The neue Ostpolitik polarised Germany like no other policy since the end of the war.
Conservatives accused Brandt of “treachery” for giving up territorial claims in the east. He only managed to get the deal through the Bundestag after calling a snap election.
Nonetheless, Brandt’s Ostpolitik became the paradigm that would be followed by German Chancellors for decades.
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