Page "Socialist Unity Party of Germany" Paragraph 12

The tenth Congress, which took place in April 1981, celebrated the status quo ; the meeting unanimously re-elected Honecker to the office of general secretary, and there were no electoral surprises, as all incumbents except the ailing 76-year-old Albert Norden were returned to the Politbüro and the Secretariat.

The congress highlighted the importance of policies that had been introduced or stressed at the two previous congresses and that had dominated East German life during the 1970s.

As in the past, Honecker stressed the importance of the ties to the Soviet Union.

In his closing remarks, he stated: " Our party, the SED, is linked forever with the party of Lenin, CPSU.

" A delegation led by chief party ideolougue Mikhail Suslov, a member of the CPSU Politburo, represented the CPSU at the SED congress.

Honecker reiterated earlier positions on the relationship between the two German states, stressing that they were two sovereign states that had developed along different lines since World War II, and that their differences had to be respected by both sides as they continued efforts toward peaceful coexistence despite membership in antagonistic alliances.

In his speeches, Honecker, along with other SED officials, devoted greater attention to Third World countries than he had done in the past.

Honecker mentioned the continually increasing numbers of young people from African, Asian, and Latin American countries who received their higher education in East Germany, and he referred to many thousands of people in those countries who had been trained as apprentices, skilled workers, and instructors by teams from East Germany.