Germany celebrates reunification with hope of better ties with RI
The Jakarta Post | Tue, 10/05/2010 12:12 PM
Germans residing in Indonesia celebrated Monday the 20th anniversary of Germany reunification in an event hosted by the German Embassy here as hopes raised for better relations with Indonesia.
German Ambassador to Indonesia Norbert Baas said in his opening speech that he saw good signs for a stronger relationship with Indonesia in the future.
“Germany looks with respect and sympathy at the democratic transformation of Indonesia and its important role in the international arena.
“There is significant potential of cooperation still untapped between our two countries,” he said.In his speech, Baas reflected on the journey that Germany has made after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“It all seemed like a miracle. Behind it was, most of all, the strong and undisturbed momentum for democratic change that the East Germans had been building up. It gradually merged with the desire of all of us to live in one state,” he said.
He added that German unification was not an easy challenge for the country. “But it seems to me after 20 years: We have made it.”
German unification, he said, paved the way for the enlargement of the European Union, which advances German’s opportunities far more than ever before in its history.
Former president B.J. Habibie, who came as a guest of honor, congratulated the Germans for “their achievement to contribute not only to Europe but also to the world after 20 years of unification”.
He praised the European country for being successful in being a good example of peaceful coexistence being a country with many different religions.
“Such coexistence is normal in Indonesia, we’ve had that for a long time. But this is a breakthrough for Germany. They are contributing to peace in Europe and the world,” he added.
Germany was officially reunited on Oct. 3, 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the country’s four-decade division after World War II — the Federal Republic of Germany in the west and the German Democratic Republic in the east.
