E. German Leader Urges Halving Military of Both Germanys in 1990 : East Bloc: Gysi says that talk of reunification is not credible while there is an armed rivalry.

BONN — East German Communist Party leader Gregor Gysi proposed Saturday that both East and West Germany cut their armed forces in half by the end of this year and that all foreign troops in their territories depart before the end of the decade.

“Both German states must make a beginning with demilitarization in Central Europe,” Gysi told a special meeting of the Communist Party leadership, according to the official East German news agency ADN.

Gysi’s demilitarization plan also includes the removal of training areas in a 50-mile-wide strip along the inner German border and severe limitations on troops deployed in the frontier area.

As party leader, Gysi is not a member of the current East German government, but his proposals are thought to reflect his concern about the Communist Party being able to mount a credible, popular platform for the May national elections.

At present, the East German armed forces total 175,000 soldiers, while West Germany’s troop strength is 494,000. Both armies are considered among the best in their respective defense alliances, the Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

There are about 380,000 Soviet troops based in East Germany, while in West Germany, about 246,000 American soldiers are stationed, along with 67,000 British and 50,000 French soldiers.

The Soviet Union has announced plans to unilaterally withdraw 50,000 troops from Central Europe, including East Germany.

“The Allies are urged,” said Gysi, “to prepare their troops for complete, planned withdrawal in stages by 1999, beginning with the border zone.”

Gysi tied in the disarmament proposal with the various calls for German reunification made on both sides of the border.

“Without an end to military rivalry between the two German states,” he said, “any talk of unity of the nation is not credible.”

Because of the reduced tensions in Europe, both Bonn and the United States have indicated they will reduce troop strength in West Germany, though no final figures have been established.

The 23-nation Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe is meeting in Vienna to seek drastic reductions in troops and armaments in the two alliances “from the Atlantic to the Urals.”

Gysi also urged the withdrawal of all chemical and nuclear weapons from both German states by the end of the year.

“Between the Urals and the Atlantic,” he said, “there should be no nuclear weapons, no biological or chemical weapons, no tanks, cannons, bombers or combat helicopters.

“The military blocs must be dissolved in this Europe. In all countries, there will be weapons only for the police inasmuch as they need them to fight crime and terrorism.”

Meanwhile, the Communist Party on Saturday called for a party congress on March 17-18 to prepare for the May elections.

The Communist Party is attempting to reform itself, having ousted veteran leader Erich Honecker and replacing his successor, Egon Krenz, in early December with Gysi, a reform-minded lawyer.

In various remarks, party leaders have said they did not believe the Communists could achieve a majority in the May elections.

But some East and West German leaders are concerned about whether the Communists will actually give opposition groups the opportunity to conduct a proper election campaign.

For instance, a spokesman for the West German opposition Social Democrats, Hans Buechler, said in a radio interview Saturday that Chancellor Helmut Kohl should threaten to cancel future talks with East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow unless opposition groups are given access to newspapers and television.

“I appeal to the government to make sure, if necessary by halting negotiations, that really free elections with equal rights can take place,” Buechler declared.

And in Leipzig on Saturday, the leading East German opposition group, New Forum, began a two-day meeting to discuss its own tactics in proposing candidates to run in the national elections.

Like the Greens in West Germany, New Forum leaders are split on the issue of whether they should become a formal political party or remain a loosely knit opposition movement without a hard-and-fast platform and running only a token number of candidates in the election.