EASTERN EUROPE: Freedom to Travel

Warsaw radio called it "an agreement without precedent in the world" —an exaggeration, of course, but almost a forgivable one. What the radio referred to was an agreement this month between Poland and East Germany allowing their citizens to visit each other's countries without the tedious exit formalities, border checks and stringent currency controls (90¢ a day for Polish tourists) that had made travel between Communist countries since World War II almost as difficult as getting to the West.

Henceforth East German and Polish travelers—and, as of last weekend, East Germans and Czechoslovaks —can cross their respective borders with only an...

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