Erich Mielke demonstrations politically and giving "every DDR citizen the right to travel." On 17 October 1989, Mielke and the rest of the GDR's Politburo met to follow Gorbachev's demand, voiced in August, for Erich Honecker be removed as General Secretary of the SED and State Council chairman. Suspecting that Honecker's personal bodyguards might try to arrest the members of the Central Committee when they met to vote Honecker out in favour of Egon Krenz, Mielke saw to it that Stasi agents were stationed near the meeting room. While deliberations were underway, Mielke told Honecker that "we simply cannot start shooting with
Erich Honecker and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West. Although Honecker remained loyal to the Soviet Union by renouncing the objective of a unified Germany and adopting the "defensive" position of ideological "Abgrenzung" (demarcation), he signed the Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 which sought to normalise relations between the nations. East Germany also participated in