Visiting the neighbors
May 31, 2009
Steinmeier met with his Czech counterpart Jan Kohout on Monday, June 1, and visited a multimedia exhibition at Prague's famous Wenceslas Square.
The exhibition called "20 years of freedom - Germany says 'Thank You'" is a collaborative effort between the German Foreign Office and partner countries in central and eastern Europe.
After being on display in Prague until June 1, the exhibit will make its way to Warsaw, Gdansk, Bratislava and Budapest.
Steinmeier also met with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, and with playwright and former president of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel.
On Tuesday, he will deliver a speech before the Hungarian Academy of Sciences focusing on the fall of the iron curtain.
Important anniversary
Starting with democratic elections in Poland in June 1989, the year of change across central Europe culminated in November of that year with the fall of the Berlin Wall. That event became a symbol of the end of the Cold War and Europe's post-war divide.
The breaching of the Berlin Wall also led to the unseating of the Soviet-backed government in Prague and the ousting of Romanian president Nicolae Ceausescu a few weeks later. On Christmas Day, Ceausescu and his wife were executed by firing squad following a bloody revolution in the country.
Nearly 20 years after the communist governments of central Europe fell like dominoes, the region's new political leadership is still trying to sweep away the industrial and social debris left by decades of command economics.
This process has been made even more complicated by the economic downturn rapidly taking hold around the world.
gb/dpa/AFP
Editor: Toma Tasovac