Brown attends Berlin wall ceremony

Monday, 9 November 2009 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

Gordon Brown is attending the ceremony to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall today, together with leaders from across the globe.

"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 in a speech later.

Speaking of the scale of the achievement which ordinary men and women can be proud of, the prime minister will continue: "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."

German chancellor Angela Merkel, from East Germany, will also be attending the ceremony, along with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa will also be present.

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