German parliament commemorates fall of the Berlin Wall

Berlin, Nov 9

The German parliament Sunday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, commemorating the efforts of European civil rights activists which helped end the divide between East and West in Germany and Europe.

"The people east of the Iron Curtain only had their large hearts to set against the tanks, but they still were victorious," former Polish prime minister Jerzy Buzek, who currently heads the European Parliament said in his address to the legislators.

Buzek, in the 1980s an activist for the Polish Solidarnosc union which became the first mass opposition movement in Communist Eastern Europe after rallying shipbuilder to strikes in Gdansk said: "It all began in front of Gdansk shipyard, and it ended in front of the Brandenburg Gate."

The reunification of Europe would not have been possible without the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the German people, and equally reconciliation between East and West, and between German and Poland, Buzek said.

The commemorations in parliament were attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, members of the German government and parliament as well as numerous diplomats.

Last updated on Nov 9^th, 2009 at 06:32 am IST--DPA

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