The GDR Volkskammer president Horst Sindermann visits West Germany at the invitation of the SPD parliamentary party.
11 February
1986
Three Western agents are exchanged for five Eastern agents and the Soviet dissident Anatoly Shcharansky on the Glienicke Bridge between Potsdam and West Berlin.more
Two metalworkers from Magdeburg swim westwards across the Elbe with army wetsuits, goggles and snorkels. The river is so cold that there are large ice floes and patrol boats cannot be used. The escape is successful.
25 February
1986
At the 27th CPSU Party Conference, General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev announces radical reforms.
27 February
1986
Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme is shot dead by an unknown assailant in the street after a visit to the cinema. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and SED leader Erich Honecker meet on the sidelines of the funeral ceremonies on 15 March.
