Germany marks 25 years of unity, facing new challenges
Europe
Germany marks 25 years of unity, facing new challenges
Germany marks a quarter-century as a reunited nation on Saturday, with two leaders from the formerly communist east heading a country that increasingly asserts itself as Europe’s political heavyweight — and now faces a new challenge in a refugee influx that will demand deep reserves of resourcefulness and patience. In a speech at this year’s unification celebrations in Frankfurt, Germany’s President Joachim Gauck compared the integration of hundreds of thousands of newly arrived refugees to the task of reuniting East and West Germany 25 years ago.
Like in 1990, a challenge awaits us that will keep future generations busy. But contrary from before, what did not belong together up to now, should now grow together.
President Joachim Gauck
West and East Germany united on Oct. 3, 1990, capping a process that started less than 11 months earlier when the east’s communist leadership opened the Berlin Wall under pressure from massive demonstrations. Evening out the differences between east and west has been a far slower process, and some inequalities persist even now. Those concerns apart, Germany has cemented its place as Europe’s biggest economy and, in the past few years, has shown increasing ambition as a political and diplomatic heavyweight.
The experiences of German unification give us the feeling and the confidence that we can deal successfully with the tasks that face us — however big they are.
Chancellor Angela Merkel
