The Globe and Mail: The evolution of the new Europe begins - by Doug Sauders
Unity, Peace and Power
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As the leaders of Europe and the United States gathered to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Europe in the freezing rain at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate last night, they were quietly meeting to push for future revolutionary changes. Pressed close together in the cold night as they watched speeches and a symbolic toppling of dominoes, Europe's leaders tried to hammer out the future leadership of the continent, a decision that will further extend the unification of Europe that began with the Berlin Wall's opening on Nov. 9, 1989. For the European leaders, the 20th anniversary of the wall's fall came at a propitious moment, only six days after Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, himself a key figure in the democratic revolutions of 1989, finally agreed to become the last of 27 European Union heads of state to sign the Lisbon Treaty, a new constitution for the continent-wide bloc. Europe will now become more like a national federation, with a president and a foreign minister, both appointed by the leaders of all 27 countries.
Note EU-Digest: watching the celebrations in Berlin last night one could not escape from the feeling that finally it is starting to dawn on us the citizens of the EU that we are one, at least in spirit and purpose.
Labels: Berlin Wall, EU, European Unity, Peace
