US Mission cable, Summary of Berlin Press End of the Cold War

The press excerpts gathered here by the U.S. Embassy in East Berlin and transmitted to offices in Washington, Bonn, Brussels, and Tokyo reflect the growing urgency of the situation in East Berlin. This press report comes just days after two of the largest days of demonstrations in Berlin, Leipzig, and elsewhere on October 7 and 9, 1989.

West Berlin's governing mayor, Walter Momper noted in one reported statement that the new security measures taken by the East German border guards were in violation of international agreements, hearkening back to Cold War crises of 1948 and 1961. Newspapers representing the voices of both the right and the left articulated the perception that the current GDR regime was incapable of real reform, with the Berliner Morgenpost going so far as to refer to Erich Honecker as a "liberal" among a group of even more conservative members of the East German politburo.