Sunday, November 3, 2019

Heiko Maas writes on the values of a united Europe

German foreign minister Heiko Maas wrote an opinion piece in The Irish Times yesterday.

The column marks the memorable evening of November 9, 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down.

He writes: "This world needs Europe's courage to embrace freedom, the courage of 1989.

"Let us dare at long last to be Europen, to act as Europeans, without any ifs or buts."

There is a gentle tone to the opinion peace. Maas recognises the unimaginable suffering that Germany brought to Europe 80 years ago. He thanks those who helped make the reunification of Germany possible, including the then first secretary of the Communinist Party of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev.

At a time when we are constantly bombarded with intemperate language from political leaders it is heartening to read the words of Heiko Maas.

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