Thirty years after it disappeared, the memory of the Wall that divided Berlin cries out to us as a protest against all the walls that must be broken down so that we can complete the more fraternal world that, in the euphoria of the surprising and unexpected celebration that November 9, 1989 became, seemed then within our reach.
The democratic revolutions that followed were "velvet revolutions", as Vaclav Havel had described the Czech revolution. In them, unlike in Hungary in 1956, there were no more tanks in the streets, rolling through the blood of their martyrs. Political and social rights in the kidnapped “Central Europe," of which Milan Kundera spoke in 1984, still progress, showing us that the utopia of a united and democratic Europe can still be achieved.
Once the fear of nuclear holocaust, Gorbachev's primary motivation for ending the Cold War, had vanished, peace became possible.
Once the fear of nuclear holocaust, Gorbachev's primary motivation for ending the Cold War, had vanished, peace became possible. And with it came an unprecedented decade of international cooperation, based on revived multilateralism, regional integration and meaningful progress to protect fundamental rights, symbolized by the creation of the International Criminal Court.
