Germany marks low-key 30th reunification anniversary
PTI, Oct 3, 2020, 4:02 PM IST
Berlin: Germany is marking the 30th anniversary of its reunification on Saturday, drawing a generally positive picture of the progress made in knitting together east and west amid celebrations that are low-key because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Germany was reunited on October 3, 1990, after four decades of Cold War division.
East Germany joined the western federal republic less than a year after the east’s communist rulers — under pressure from growing protests — opened the Berlin Wall and the rest of the highly fortified border between the two countries.
While much progress has been made since then, economic and other differences between the west and the less-prosperous east still persist.
A long-lasting trend of more people leaving the east than moving there has finally halted in recent years.
“We have achieved a lot in these 30 years,” Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in the east, told Germany’s parliament this week.
“We have succeeded in significantly reducing the differences in living conditions between eastern and western Germany. But structural differences remain,” she said.
“Further efforts are necessary,” she added.
The centrepiece of Saturday’s celebrations is a ceremony in Potsdam, just outside Berlin, led by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with 230 guests — about one-fifth of the audience originally planned.
Merkel acknowledged that the celebrations “will be quieter than the occasion would actually deserve.”
Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.
Top News
Related Articles More
Unprecedented rainfall in Dubai: Social media flooded with visuals of submerged airport & streets
Israel’s Defense Innovations: From Iron Dome to Arrow 3
Heavy rains set off flash floods killing 33 people in Afghanistan
Indian student shot dead in his car in Canada’s Vancouver
World cannot afford another war: UN chief Antonio Guterres on Iran’s attack on Israel
MUST WATCH
Latest Additions
India’s boundaries are completely secure: Rajnath Singh
Complaint filed against Flipkart, BigBasket for allegedly making employee work on election day
DKShi ‘kidnapped’ 9-year-old girl for property: HDD
Woman can’t be held accountable for abetting suicide of lover due to ‘love failure’: Delhi HC
I don’t believe in star power: Vidhu Vinod Chopra on why content matters more to him