Germany celebrates Reunification Day. Details from Berlin
On Saturday, Germany celebrated Reunification Day with exhibitions, folk festivals and a large concert near the Brandeburg Gate in Berlin. Exactly 25 years ago, in October 1990, the GDR became part of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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Despite the fact that the Berlin Wall, which separated East and West Berlin, had been dismantled a year earlier, and residents of the two Germanys were able to travel freely, negotiations on the legal nature of reunification continued for another year until the process was legally formalized.
Let us recall that as a result of lengthy consultations in 1990, an agreement was signed in the 4+2 format (Germany, the German Democratic Republic, as well as the USSR, the USA, France and Great Britain), which, in fact, allowed the Federal Republic of Germany to “absorb” the German Democratic Republic.
This legal nature of the reunification causes a lot of criticism in Germany even 25 years later. Many diplomats, journalists, scientists and ordinary citizens believe that if the USSR had shown firmness and determination in negotiations, then Germany could have become a neutral country, and the American occupation forces that are still here could have been withdrawn from the country, as a symmetrical response to the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent.
It is also worth noting that many Germans are unhappy that the United States not only has not removed nuclear weapons from the country, but continues to increase its military presence and recently placed additional atomic weapons at its military bases in Germany.
On the eve of the memorable date, many German newspapers and magazines published complimentary materials about Mikhail Gorbachev, who, according to PolitNavigator, now lives at his dacha in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam.
Let us also recall that Germany was among the Western countries that condemned the reunification of Crimea with Russia and joined the sanctions against Moscow.
Below are photographs taken by a PolitNavigator correspondent in Tiergarten Park, opposite the monument to Soviet liberating soldiers, where today’s festivities are taking place.
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