Berlin - Germany and Hungary on Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the opening of Hungary's western border to refugees, a move which contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. German President Horst Koehler and his Hungarian counterpart, Laszlo Solyom, took part in a ceremony in Berlin in honour of the events of September 10, 1989.
In a dramatic break with the eastern European communist bloc, Hungary gave permission for thousands of East German refugees to leave Hungary for West Germany via Austria.
Solyom pointed out that the border remained open after that, a move which made the East German policy of confinement of its citizens untenable.
The year "1989 was a unique and historic year," he said in remarks prepared for delivery at the ceremony.
The president said the unselfishness, willingness to help and sympathy shown at the time is necessary in today's European Union.
Solyom also referred to the ongoing differences between his country and Slovakia and their dispute over language issues.
"Taking into account the spirit of the times 20 years ago, we have to take care that in a united and border-free Europe, no new barriers sprout up, for example in the unfettered use of mother tongues," he said.
Koehler used the occasion to call for "new life" to be injected into the European idea. He also praised the Hungarian government of two decades ago.
"Hungary started the ball rolling. That brought freedom to our East German fellow citizens. That changed European and the rest of the world," Koehler said.
