OneEurope 1/93 East-West Magazine HOW TO BUILD THE ...

directly to the OVIR, the towns office which was supposed to make my p
apers ready. Mrs B, the chief of the OVIR said, that they only handle invitations, which were sent
in a privat way, from one person to another person, and that I should go to the ministry of foreign
affairs. Mr C from the ministry of foreign affairs said to me, that they only handle invitations sent
from one organisation to another organisation. But the university of Cologne (organisation) invites
me (personally) and there is no institution in the USSR authorized to handle this case. I had to
return to the DIC of the MPEI. This time they said, that it'll take at least two month and the first
thing I have to bring is a paper from the KGB which says, that I never worked on secret projects.
Mr D at the KGB said that they do not issue such papers and the only thing they can do is to say
that somebody worked on a secret project. By lucky chance I got an advice from the former
MPEI's KOMOMSOL leaders who now deal with international student exchange. They directed
me to newspapers in which I found several offers to
process papers for foreign trips. I asked about the documents I need and Mr E said that I need no
passport, no KGB permit, no invitation from Cologne. Nothing. Only 100$ (quite a lot in Russia
t.e.) Not more. No roubles, please! Mr E made my papers ready in one week- leaving permit,
passport, visa from the German embassy, all I needed. And so I came to the international airport
in Moskva the 4th of September 1992 with a ticket to Düsseldorf in my pocket, and I was glad
when the plane landed the 5th of September in Frankfurt.
This is a true story. Unfortunately after three months Gregorij had to return to Moskva, because
his tourist-visa had expired and it is impossible to make a tourist visa valid longer than three
months. We have seen him last time in January, ready to leave to Moscow and to come back two
weeks later, but probably we won't see him any more in Germany.
OneEurope Lexicon
One of the most frequently words used in discussions about different organisation forms of
Europe is the expression INTEGRATION. But what does integration actually mean ? The
following rubric intends to clear up the sense and significance of this and similiar important words
now and in next editions.
(The explanations below were taken from the book "Europe 2000" published by Omnia edition
house)
Integration
The joining together of European states within the EC is commonly referred to as integration - a
complicated word for a meaningful event. Usually integration stands for establishing a unity out of
different pieces. [...]
Sovereign states (nation-states) can associate themselves on the basis of international law in
different ways: for example through a contractual co-operation in the political area where common
interests are to be put forward (e.g. in the cultural field or in supporting the economy). Such an
international co-operation underlies the work of the European Council, while a similar example is
represented by the EFTA. Although the states are collaborating they still maintain their unlimited
national sovereignty; that complies with the common belief that a nations sovereignty is
indivisible and must remain untouched.
Exactly this view is overcome in the integration of the EC states. Up to now integration is an
unique form of international union in which national sovereign powers are being abandoned or
restricted; they are transferred to newly created supranational ("integrated") institutions.
Integration can, but must not lead to nation-states losing their entire sovereignty, dissolving
completely and establishing a larger state together.
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