The West German daily "Die Welt" publishes remarks by the Soviet foreign-policy expert Vyacheslav Dashichev. Speaking to German journalists in the Soviet Embassy in Bonn, Dashichev had described the Wall and barbed wire on the GDR’s borders as "remnants and traditions left over from the Cold War" that "have to disappear over time."
Central Committee secretary Hermann Axen condemns Dashichev’s remarks to the Soviet ambassador in the GDR, Vyacheslav Kochemassov. He says they "are directed straight at the sovereignty and security interests of the GDR, at the security interests of the Warsaw Pact states, at our joint political defence alliance."
The SED Politburo discusses the non-achievement of the 1987 plan.more
17 June
1988
In a confidential memo to the chairman of the Council of Ministers, Willi Stoph, the Ministry for Security reports that "discussions about domestic political issues, especially problems in successfully implementing economic and social policies and problems in trade and supply have continued to increase across wide sectors of the population." It says that the question "whether the party and state leadership really recognises the true situation of the economy and in the area of supply" is being raised more and more often.
19 June
1988
During a concert by pop star Michael Jackson in front of the Reichstag building near the Wall, there are clashes between People’s Police and young people who have approached the Wall because they want to hear the concert from the Eastern sector.
21 June
1988
Horst Neugebauer becomes the new Permanent Representative of the GDR in West Germany.
26 June - 1 July
1988
Representatives from 20 CSCE signatory states observe a joint troop manoeuvre involving Soviet and East German armed forces in Potsdam.
29 June
1988
At a press conference organised by the Soviet party and state leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, leading Soviet politicians and economics experts call for radical reforms to advance the process of democratisation in the Soviet Union.
