Page "German reunification" Paragraph 24

Similarly, a representative of French President François Mitterrand reportedly told an aide to Gorbachev, " France by no means wants German reunification, although it realises that in the end it is inevitable.

" At the Strasbourg summit, Mitterrand and Thatcher discussed the fluidity of Germany's historical borders.

On 20 January 1990, Mitterrand told Thatcher that a unified Germany could " make more ground than even Hitler had ".

He predicted that " bad " Germans would reemerge, who might seek to regain former German territory lost after World War II and would likely dominate Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, leaving " only Romania and Bulgaria for the rest of us ".

The two leaders saw no way to prevent reunification, however, as " None of us was going to declare war on Germany ".

Mitterrand recognized before Thatcher that reunification was inevitable and adjusted his views accordingly ; unlike her, he was hopeful that participation in a single currency and other European institutions could control a united Germany.

Mitterrand still wanted Thatcher to publicly oppose unification, however, to obtain more concessions from Germany.