Brussels, 10/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday 9 November, the leaders of the European institutions celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of a Europe divided in two by the Cold War for more than forty years.
“On this fateful day 25 years ago, a wall was torn down and the world was forever changed. Germany was reunited. And German unity in turn became a catalyst for European unity. The fall of the Berlin Wall enabled new bridges to be built between people. Today, as President of the European Commission, I see it as my task to repair the cracks in these bridges that appeared after the worst financial and economic crisis since World War II”, said the President of the European Commission in a statement. Jean-Claude Juncker stressed that more than two decades after this exceptional event, “we must not forget that peace is not a given in Europe”. “More than ever, Europe must live up to its responsibility to safeguard freedom and peace. Europe makes nation states collectively stronger, but we can only win the future by playing together”, he added.
The outgoing President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, recalled the importance of 9 November: “9 November 1918: end of the First World War; 9 November 1938: Kristallnacht - start of a nightmare; 9 November 1989: end of the Cold War - start of a reunited Germany & a united Europe”, he stated on Twitter.
“On a day like today, it is our duty to ask whether the hopes raised and promises made back then have been realised”, said the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, at a ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. We have “torn down walls and opened up borders” and “set in place a system of immunity from war”, he stressed. Quoting Robert Schuman, he referred to the “solidarity of action” on which the European Union is based. Today, with the financial and economic crisis, “an entire generation” has practically lost hope in the future and, 25 years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, with inequality on the rise once again, extremism is back, he noted, warning: “are we going to allow the law of the jungle to prevail over the rule of law?”. (MB)