Word: brandts
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...Richard Nixon's "Year of Europe," it was to be expected that Continental leaders would be visiting Washington. Thus West German Chancellor Willy Brandt may not have felt uniquely favored last March when the President invited him to drop by. But by the time the visit rolled around last week, it had acquired some piquancy. Brandt would be the first European leader to talk to Nixon since Presidential Adviser Henry Kissinger called for "a new Atlantic Charter" to guide U.S.-European relations (TIME, May 7). And then, of course, there was Watergate. Would Brandt, as the Frankfurter Rundschau predicted...
...that political, economic and defense issues should be directly linked together in consideration of U.S.-European partnership. It is an idea that has been strongly resisted by Western Europe, which suspects (with good reason) that the U.S. wants to use European defense needs as leverage to extract trade concessions. Brandt made it perfectly clear to Nixon that Western Europe still opposes the linkage approach. Mixing up the issues, he said, posed a danger of "poisoning relations in an area where it is not necessary...
...Brandt diplomatically praised Kissinger's charter speech for demonstrating Washington's renewed interest in European affairs. "It is very good for all of us," he told Nixon. But he also emphasized that detailed, practical discussions were more important than enunciation of outlines and principles. "What matters now is what is in the bottle," said a top-ranking West German official. "We should now not concentrate on the label but on the content. When we know what's in the bottle, we can put the label...
...Brandt floated the idea of a series of group summit meetings next fall during Nixon's proposed tour of Western Europe, which, it was announced last week, will include visits to NATO and EEC headquarters in Brussels. The tour, Brandt told the National Press Club, would provide a chance for "finding the highest working level possible for discussion between the President of the U.S. and the statesmen of Europe who wish to participate." The White House withheld judgment on Brandt's suggestion. However, Nixon has resisted group summitry in the past, believing it offers too much temptation...
...Brandt visit had some lighter moments. The Chancellor slipped off for some fishing aboard the U.S. Naval Academy commandant's yacht. The only catch was a small rockfish landed by a U.S. protocol officer. The next day, when Nixon received him at the White House, Brandt complained: "There is only one fish in the Chesapeake Bay." Nixon, who had delivered his traumatic Watergate speech the night before, was in an effusive, bantering mood. To the delight of photographers, Nixon took Brandt by the arm several times to change his position "so we will have very good pictures...