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Brown to mark fall of Berlin Wall

Date: 9/11/2009 14:07:23

Search: Brown Berlin Wall

Gordon Brown is to join other world leaders in Germany for the celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are among the international notables taking part in the commemorations hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the then West German foreign minister, are among the main players from the period who will also be there.

In his speech, Mr Brown will pay tribute to the spirit of the ordinary people whose actions brought down the wall, and with it the collapse of communism, the reunification of Germany, and the end of the Cold War.

"The wall that had imprisoned half a city, half a country, half a continent, half a world for nearly a third of a century was swept away by the greatest force of all - the unbreakable spirit of men and women who dared to dream in the darkness, who knew that while force has the temporary power to dictate, it can never ultimately decide," he will say.

He will also acknowledge the historic scale of their achievement, according to advance extracts released by No 10.

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"Its majesty lies not in the presence of a structure, but in its absence. The wall is gone. Two Berlins are one. Two Germanys are one. Two Europes are one," he will say.

Behind the scenes, the celebrations will also allow the visiting European leaders to consider the future direction of the continent following the signing of the EU's Lisbon Treaty.

It is expected there will be discussions in the margins over the allocation of the new posts of president and high representative - effectively EU foreign minister - created by the treaty.

While Tony Blair's hopes of the top job appear to have receded, there is continued speculation that Foreign Secretary David Miliband could get the high representative post - despite his repeated assertions that he is not a candidate.

2012 © Press Association

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