Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel bezeichnete das Paneuropäische Picknick als Symbol der Einheit und dankte den Ungarn, die vor 30 Jahren zur Überwindung der Teilung Europas beigetragen haben.
19 August 2019, Sopron
19 August 2019, Sopron
“Central Europe will have a growing weight in European decision making; ties between Germany and Central Europe will have a focal role in preserving Europe’s unity," the Prime Minister said.
Even at times of division, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, “freedom fighters like us always knew that there was only one, single Europe.” As the prime minister reflected on the historic significance of Hungary-Germany relations, Hungary’s role in German reunification and the future of Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel named the Pan-European Picnic a symbol of unity and thanked Hungarians who 30 years ago helped overcome the lines of division.
PM Orbán and Chancellor Merkel took part in an ecumenical service in Sopron’s Lutheran Church. Afterward, they held bilateral talks during lunch.
On this day 30 years ago – one day before Hungary’s St Stephen Day celebrations - several hundred East Germans crossed the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
Chancellor Merkel is coming to Hungary to commemorate the Pan-European Picnic – here’s why that Picnic was so important