National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer released a statement today on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
On November 9, 1989, Germans from both sides of the Berlin Wall joined together to breach the barrier that divided them and began the process of reuniting their country. The year 1989 was pivotal in the 20th century and in world history. Poland held a historic parliamentary election that ended communist rule. Hungary boldly cut the barbed wire fence separating it from Austria, drawing back the Iron Curtain. And, with the Velvet Revolution in then-Czechoslovakia, Central and Eastern Europe chose freedom over oppression, liberty over captivity, and hope over despair.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, on November 9, 2009, General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret), National Security Advisor to the President will host the members of the diplomatic corps representing all of Europe and the former Soviet Union at a lunch to join together and observe and celebrate this historic day and the events that followed. At the lunch, participants will also view the ceremonies in Berlin to which Secretary Clinton will lead a Presidential Delegation.
In this context, General Jones said, “an enduring legacy of 1989 is the vibrant partnership that we share with Europe – a partnership in which we are standing together to meet the challenges of the 21st century. I am pleased to celebrate this partnership with my European colleagues on November 9, 2009, as we commemorate the anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.”
