Part of the European history of freedom

I regard the fall of the wall 20 years ago as one of the most beautiful and important events in the 20th century. On the one hand, it made a long-awaited amendment to one of the most terrible political mistakes that entailed many human tragedies. At the same time, the fall of the Berlin Wall is a symbol of civic courage and people’s vital need for law, freedom, and democracy. What East Germans did in 1989 with great courage and readiness for personal sacrifices — not only in Berlin — and what became the prerequisite for Germany’s unification was a peaceful revolution for the right to take part in decision-making processes.

“We are the people!” the people chanted in the autumn 1989 demonstrations in many GDR cities. This was before the slogan “We are one people!” by which they expressed their will for unification.

I have no doubts that the history of Germany’s unification is a history of success. After the peaceful revolution in East Germany and the reunification of Germany on Oct. 3, 1990, citizens in both parts of the country took great efforts aimed at building up the economy. Never before had one part of the country given so much support to another part. At the same time, it does not mean that recognizing this as a success, we remain blind to those problems that we still have to combat 20 years later. However, we should have realized in Germany and, perhaps, in other countries that these problems are mostly the vestiges of the Communist poor management practices rather than the results of the removal of dictatorship.

Without doubt, by removing GDR dictatorship, the 1989 revolution achieved priceless progress — realization of the human right to freedom. This balance does not leave room for the question about how justified the expenses were. In connection with this, the memory of the 1989 revolution can and should reinforce awareness of the value freedom has. This is a kind of freedom that envisages, above all, personal freedom to act and make decisions, freedom as a chance to take life in your hands and arrange it at your discretion, and take responsibility for this. The freedom and rule of law in the West German democracy were so immensely attractive that in times of separation thousands of people were ready to hazard their lives only to cross the deadly borderline. This escape of thousands of people — a total of 2.5 million — after Germany’s separation led to the erection of the wall in 1961, and the escape of thousands of people made the wall fall in 1989.

The peaceful revolution that led to this event is not an isolated event. Rather, it is a part of the 20th-century European history of freedom and unification. In connection with this I cannot but recall the Prague Spring and Polish Solidarity movement. Hungary should be mentioned here —it made the first hole in the Berlin Wall by adopting, 20 years ago, a sovereign decision to open its border with Austria, which entailed a chain of events, eventually leading up to the peaceful and free unification of Germans. One should not forget the Ukrainian human rights movement, namely the Helsinki Group. Its struggle for democracy and human rights was cruelly suppressed in the 1970s.

Today we can shape a common understanding of the history of protests in East and West in which this date stands out as The Day to commemorate a part of the 20th-century European history of freedom and unification. The fall of the Berlin Wall two decades ago was not the beginning in this history. Rather, it was the result of development that started many years earlier. Brave men and women were advancing it not only in Germany, but nearly in all of Central and Eastern Europe. Thanks to their joint contribution, law and freedom succeeded in winning over self-willed rule and suppression.

The fall of the Berlin Wall defined not only the end of Germany’s division. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Communist system, the division of the entire European continent came to an end. Since the very beginning, as soon as our Eastern neighbors, including Ukraine, began to aspire for integration into European structures and democratic and market economic transformation, Germany started giving them support.

Ukraine and Germany have wonderful economic relations and an active cultural exchange. Nearly 4,000 Ukrainians are studying in German universities. As for the European Union, Ukraine is one of the most important addressees of the European Neighborhood Policy in Central and Eastern Europe, and our cooperation makes great advances within its framework.

What Germans mark this year is not only the 20th anniversary of the Wall’s fall but also the 60th anniversary of the Federative Republic of Germany. Conrad Adenauer was the first chancellor of the then young state. In 1954 he stated: “Few people were dreaming about Europe’s unification. This became a hope for many people. Today it is a necessity for all of us.” I am glad that today this increasingly applies to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine.