core sector communique

Breaking Barriers: 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall

On Monday, 9^th November 2009, Germany commemorates 20 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In New Delhi, a week-long programme of events at the Jawaharlal Nehru University culminates with the talk – ‘The fall of the Berlin Wall and consequences for international politics’ – by Dr. Friedbert Pflüger, former foreign policy spokesman of the Christian Democrats’ parliamentary group.

The talk, beginning 3.00 pm, will be held at JNU’s School of Arts & Aesthetics auditorium. It will be followed by an open discussion with the faculty and students of JNU.

Dr. Friedbert Pflüger is Professor for International Relations at King's College, London and a member of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU) Parliamentary Group in the state parliament of Berlin. Earlier, Pflüger had been State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defence. Before that, he served as foreign policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group.

Celebrations in Berlin reach their high-point on 9^th November, with the “Festival of Freedom”. The event – ‘The Fall of the Wall 2009’– will be staged along the exact route the Wall once took, when 1,000 symbolic Wall blocks made of polystyrene standing along this route will be toppled in a chain reaction. This ‘domino effect’ symbolises the events of autumn 1989, when the protest of individuals snowballed into a resolute, but peaceful mass movement.

In New Delhi, the anniversary events began on 3^rd November with the inauguration of an exhibition—“From the peaceful revolution to German Unity” at the School of International Studies (SIS) in JNU. This was followed by a discussion on the theme “Fall of the Wall – Breaking Barriers”, between east-European diplomats and academics. Every day for the last seven days, there have been a host of events at the SIS, including film screenings and political discussions on the theme between the faculty of JNU and Indian and German journalists. The events are organised by the German Embassy in New Delhi, along with the Centre for European Studies at SIS in Jawaharlal Nehru University.