On 21 December 1989, cartoonist Pancho illustrates the concerns of French President François Mitterrand (on the left) at the question of German unity. Paris is worried about the consequences of a simple absorption of the GDR by the FRG and the creation, at the heart of Europe, of an 80-million-strong state whose political, economic and financial clout would threaten to upset the balance that has prevailed for more than 40 years. On the European flag carried by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl (on the right), one of the stars, larger than the others, symbolises the new unified Germany and the new power relationship within the European Communities. Even though the two men greet each other, relations within the Franco-German duo are strained by the question of German unification.