President attends celebration on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Iron Curtain

Budapest, 27.6.2009  |  press release

President of Slovenia Dr Danilo Türk attended a ceremony in Budapest marking the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Iron Curtain when, on 27 June 1989, Hungarian Foreign Minister Gyula Horn and Austrian Foreign Minister Alois Mock symbolically cut the barbed wire on the Austrian-Hungarian border. The President took the opportunity for a bilateral meeting with his host, President of the Republic of Hungary László Sólyom. In their talks, they stressed the good relations between the countries and highlighted that Slovenia and Hungary have no open issues. The President of Hungary said that he was looking forward to his official visit to the Republic of Slovenia in October. President Dr Danilo Türk stressed the symbolism of today’s ceremony, which marks the beginning of the fall of the Berlin wall. The presidents also discussed the future of the European Union and bilateral relations between the countries, including minority rights. The presidents of Slovenia and Hungary agreed that the countries have a lot in common. Among other things, they underlined the transit functions of the two countries and common interests in the energy field. They also discussed closer cooperation between Slovenia and the member states of the Viąegrad group. Hungarian President László Sólyom asked the Slovenian president for joint sponsorship of a congress of Porabje Slovenians to be held in October, to which President Dr Danilo Türk agreed.

The President then attended an official reception with military honours in Lajos Kossuth Square, where President of the Republic of Hungary László Sólyom, Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary György Gordon Bajnai and President of the Parliament of the Republic of Hungary Katalin Szili received delegations of states participating at the ceremony. In the premises of the Hungarian Parliament, President Dr Danilo Türk viewed an exhibition of photographs from the period around 1989 and attended a memorial session. In his address to the memorial session, he said that the ceremony had taken place in memory of an event that symbolised the end of the dark Cold War and the beginning of a new era in Europe. Twenty years later, Europe is more united than ever in recent centuries, and he stressed that the fields of human rights, freedom and prosperity are also broadening. He recalled the Cold War era, which he characterised as a long period of suppression, denial of human rights and yearning for change. The President mentioned that the emancipation of Yugoslavia from the control of the Soviet authorities had been the first sign that Communism was not monolithic and that changes, although to a limited extent, were possible. This was followed by the dramatic events of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest in 1956 and the Prague Spring in 1968, which were spontaneous and tragic. People, however, learned from these experiences, said the President, which was testified by the changes in the 1980s happening in apparently small but persistent steps and contributing to the final downfall of Communism and the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

President Dr Danilo Türk stressed that the downfall of Communism marked a victory of democracy and freedom, which contributed to the implementation of fundamental ethic principles in international politics and, especially, to establishing an awareness that human rights belong to each and every person and that all nations, big or small, have the right to be free. Small countries must have the opportunity to cooperate as equal partners in making our common European future, said the President. Among the principal tasks facing Europe, he stressed in particular the integration of the western Balkans, where the wars of the 1990s had left deep scars, with the process of healing the wounds not yet completed. There are no instant solutions, the process will require long-term efforts, noted the President, and recalled that united Europe is another long-term project still waiting for its definition in the 21st century. Over the course of history, Europe has experienced many divisions and this is the first time that it finds itself at the threshold of unity, as it leaves behind the many obstacles and divisions from the Cold War. In the President’s words, it is time that East and West become merely points of the compass instead of political orientations. In his opinion, economic investments by the West in the East of Europe are a good step in this direction, since they are investments in our common future. In the president’s words, Europe should become an area of common values, principles and achievements, on the one hand, and should be more open to the world, should define new partnerships and form common European security arrangements, on the other.