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New rules to allow pensioners to travel were also agreed in 1963. The real breakthrough came in the course of the German government’s “Neue Ostpolitik” (new politics for the East) under Willy Brandt. The GDR wanted to be accepted as an equal partner under international law on the international stage. In order for this to happen, the GDR had to adhere to humanitarian and political norms. In 1972, as a result of the social, political and economical agreements made between West Germany and some of the Eastern Block, new rules were put in place in relation to travel and visits (these were referred to as the Ostverträge in German). It was also agreed at the same time that East Germans would be allowed to visit relatives in the West in exceptional circumstances.

Following the Helsinki Declaration in 1975, scores of GDR citizens called upon the last act of the Declaration to demand the right to choose their place of residence and made applications to emigrate. The wave of people escaping East Germany had been dramatically reduced due to the laying of mines and automatic firing devices along the Inner-German border. However, in 1975, there was a wave of people applying to emigrate.⁴⁶