Germany Celebrated 20 Years Since Fall Of The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall
While the German people were celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, the governments in Bonn and Paris were discussing about the European monetary union. According to documents quoted by Der Spiegel, the beloved German currency, the German mark, would have been sacrificed on the altar of reunification, event from which exactly 20 years have passed.
The former French president Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996, conditioned in 1989, his acceptance for of the German unification for a favorable position from the government at that time of the German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in terms of creating a single European currency.
This condition appears from the protocol – confidential until now – in regard to the conversations between Mitterrand and the German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, published by the weekly Der Spiegel.
According to this document, Mitterrand complained to his interlocutor about the fact that the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) “hinders the road to an economic and monetary union”. In his reply, Genscher has undertaken that he will make a series of concessions in this direction.
The French President hoped to a Community position favorable for a monetary union, with the occasion of the next EU summit in Strasbourg (France).
As ‘Der Spiegel’ mentions, the European leaders, meeting in the French city have actually done the necessary steps for a monetary unit, while also supporting Kohl’s government’s unification plans.
‘Perhaps there would not have been a monetary unit in the absence of the German unification process’, the former president of Bundesbank, Karl Otto Pohl, mentions.
The government in Berlin presented on Wednesday, September 29th, a very positive assessment of the two decades that have passed since the German reunification in 1990, despite some disparities between the East and the West.
The German unification is a very successful event in history
‘The situation is actually better than the atmosphere’ surrounding this issue, the Internal Affairs Minister told journalists, Thomas de Maizière.
Although between the East and West there still are differences, “this does not alter the fact that The German unification is a very successful event in history”, the minister stressed.
He recalled that unemployment in the East, usually double than in the rest of the country, fell in August to 11.5%, its lowest level since 1992. Also, the East is doing well in terms of education, health and transportation.
Even if wages remain lower than in the West, the situation will improve with time, also said the Maizière, noting that even if 2.7 million Germans migrated in the last 20 years from East to West, a number of 1.6 million have done the opposite, migrating the other way around.
“It is true that we should have taken over (in the reunified Germany) more things coming from the East than the little man in green traffic lights’, however, admitted Maizière.
Helmut Kohl, the ”parent” of the German reunification
The former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, considered to be the ”father” of the German reunification which took place 20 years ago, warned on Friday in connection with a Europe that loses confidence in it, especially because of the crisis.
”When I hear discussions about Greece, the euro and the financial crisis in Europe, I think some forget what a united Europe means for us all”, said Kohl in a speech delivered in Berlin in front of representatives of his party, the Christian Democratic Union.
Helmut Kohl, aged 80 years, which spent 16 years at the Chancellery, has also estimated that Germany could suffer economically if one would try to implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas.
”It will serve nothing to further a reasonable national policy if we do not have allies on this issue at an international level”, said the former Chancellor.
Kohl, who headed the former West Germany when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, conducted negotiations which led to the reunification of the two “Germanies” on October 3rd, 1990.
According to a poll released on Friday by ZDF television, 84% of Germans consider that the reunification was a good thing, compared to 14% who have a contrary opinion.
Merkel, raised in the former Eastern Germany
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed satisfaction on Saturday with the national solidarity which allowed the reconstruction of Eastern Germany after the reunification of the country 20 years ago, according to AFP.
In a video message broadcasted on the eve of the reunification celebration, Angela Merkel, who grew up in the former Eastern Germany, said she, like most of her fellow citizens, was surprised by the speed with which the unification took place after less than a year from the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“I was prepared not to travel freely (abroad) until my retirement”, the German Chancellor acknowledged, alluding to the ban imposed on the majority of Eastern Germans to travel to the West.
“For the inhabitants of the former GDR almost everything has changed,” said Angela Merkel, who welcomed the Eastern Germans’ courage to fight for freedom, as well as the “wave of solidarity” from the former West Germans which contributed billions of euros to the modernization of the economy in the East.
“Only because of these joint efforts have we succeeded to rebuild so quickly”, said the Chancellor.
Angela Merkel acknowledged that the planned restructuring of the former GDR economy resulted in significant unemployment in the East, but also stated that it this side effect is currently “steadily declining. ”
