Divisions rife as Germany marks 30 years since Berlin Wall fell
BERLIN: Germany yesterday marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall that ushered in the end of communism and national reunification, as the Western alliance that helped secure those achievements is riddled with divisions. Two days before the date that brought epochal change, France’s President Emmanuel Macron dropped a bombshell, declaring that transatlantic partnership NATO was suffering from “brain death” and that Europe itself was “on the brink”.
Chancellor Angela Merkel responded with uncharacteristic sharpness, saying Thursday “I don’t think that such sweeping judgments are necessary”, and the ensuing storm over NATO laid bare the growing differences among traditional allies. The bad tempered prelude to the festivities stood in sharp contrast to celebrations five years ago, when former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and exPolish president and freedom icon Lech Walesa were present.
This time, leaders of former Cold War powers will be absent, as Donald Trump’s America First policy, Britain’s Brexit struggles and Russia’s resurgence put a strain on ties. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit ended Friday while Macron is only planning a flying visit today, leaving the actual anniversary on November 9 without globally prominent figures. Pompeo also left behind a stark warning: “As we celebrate, we must also recognize that freedom is never guaranteed. “Today, authoritarianism is once again rising,” he said, namechecking China and Russia.
‘Naive complacency’
Carrying a similar message, the EU’s incoming chief Ursula von der Leyen noted that the euphoric optimism over liberal democracy and freedom that characterized November 9, 1989 has dissipated. “Today, we have to admit that our complacency was naive,” said von der Leyen. Russia is “using violence to shift established borders in Europe, and is trying to fill every vacuum that the US has left behind.” And hopes that China would develop closer to the Western liberal democracy model has not been fulfilled, she said.
Mikhail Gorbachev, whose decision not to send the Soviet army to prop up the East German regime was seen as crucial to preserving peace during the Cold War, told Spiegel magazine in an interview that there is “no nostalgia” for that period of division. But “we have to admit that after the end of the Cold War new leaders failed to create a modern security architecture, especially in Europe.” “As a result, new lines of divisions have emerged, and NATO’s eastward expansion ... shifted these lines to the Russian border.” —AFP