Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 28, 2009

Hungary Commemorates 20th Anniversary of Iron Curtain Collapse
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But celebrations are overshadowed by concerns over Europe's future 
Hungarian hussars ride in front of the Parliament building during a
memorial day marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Iron
Curtain in Budapest, Hungary Leaders and elected officials from European
countries and the United States have remembered how Hungary, exactly 20
years ago, helped to remove the Iron Curtain, which divided Eastern and
Western Europe for decades. But the celebrations on Saturday were
overshadowed by concerns over Europe's future. People young and old sang
the Ode to Joy, the European Union anthem, in front of the Hungarian
parliament building to commemorate Hungary's role in the demolition of
what was known as the Iron Curtain, dividing Eastern and Western Europe
for decades. Exactly 20 years ago on June 27, 1989, the foreign
ministers of then Communist Hungary and neighboring Austria,
symbolically cut through the barbed wire fence along their country's
borders. This allowed tens of thousands of East German refugees later
that year to escape to the west, including Robert Breitner CZuma who
suffered because of his parent's church activities and his desire to
emigrate. He says he will never forget the material and moral support he
received in Hungary. He said it helped him to be among the first on that
August night to cross into the West when Austria and Hungary opened
their border. He says "it was like a dream" for him to have a West
German passport which he received in Budapest. Zuma adds he will always
remember the feeling of driving through Austria to free West Germany.
The events opening the Iron Curtain were recalled by Hungary's then
Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth, whose last name ironically means German.
He admitted, speaking thru an interpreter, that his decision to help
remove the Iron Curtain and the later permission for East Germans to
leave was a major risk as Hungary was still part of the Soviet-led
Warsaw Pact Bloc. "Hungary's decision meant the end of the division of
Europe. And of course the protests came. The Defense [representative] of
the German Democratic Republic imme
diately appeared in Budapest and asked for an explanation. And we gave
him the explanation [saying] "We are a poor country. Unfortunately we
are not in a position to restore technically or renew technically the
Iron Curtain," he said. He added there were not only economic reasons to
help remove the Iron Curtain, which he said stretched along the border
of the "Soviet empire, from the Baltics to Iran". Former Prime Minister
Nemeth made clear that he also wanted to defend human rights and
political freedoms. The head of the visiting U.S.Congressional
delegation, Democratic Congressman David Price, presented a letter from
U.S. President Barack Obama recalling that the decision to cut the
barbed wire between Hungary and Austria eventually changed Europe. "The
brave decision of the Hungarian and Austrian governments to open their
borders set the stage for the spread of freedom to the surrounding
nations, the end of Communist control in the region, and forever changed
the political landscape of Europe," he said. But, German President Horst
Koehler also used the occasion to warn that Europe must ensure that the
current economic crisis does not end the European solidarity between
East and West that emerged following the Iron Curtain's collapse and the
reunification of Germany. The Vice President of the European Commission,
Guenter Verheugen, told VOA News that he is especially concerned about
calls not to further expand the EU towards former Communist countries or
Turkey, which he suggested would divide Europe once again. "We can not
create an official border throughout Europe and tell people: "If you are
lucky you live on our side of the border. If you have bad fortune you
are on the other side of the border. That's not possible…In my view,
we as the present members of the European Union do not decide how and
when the process of enlargement will continue. The nations themselves
will decide whether they want it and what they are prepared to do for
it,!
 " he said. In the midst of Europe's deepest recession in decades, deleg
ates agreed it is crucial not only to look back but also to build a
stronger and more prosperous Union, with East and West, in the future.


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