Aspects of the Saar Problem

Extract

The question of the final political status of the Saar territory constitutes a barrier across both the French and German roads leading toward a supranational Europe. Every time a step is to be taken toward such a Europe, and every time any sort of difference of opinion develops between the two neighboring nations, the question of the Saar again gives rise, with all passion and all vehemence, to a discussion of national prestige. It is apparently impossible for the two nations to forget the Saar or to treat it with the relatively moderate amount of attention it deserves in accordance with its importance in world politicss as a whole.