2009.07.31. 14:15
Merkel to attend Hungary event marking Pan-European Picnic anniv'
Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend on August 19 a ceremony in Sopron (W Hungary) marking the 20th anniversary of the Pan-European Picnic on the Hungarian-Austrian border, the chancellor's foreign policy advisor told MTI on Friday.
"With the visit Chancellor Merkel wishes to express her high appreciation of the outstanding contribution Hungary had made to the freedom and unity of Germany, and of Europe," said Christoph Heusgen.
On August 19, 1989 a few hundred East Germans escaped to Austria with the silent consent of Hungarian authorities under the auspices of the Pan-European Picnic held on the border near the city of Sopron.
The event helped pave the way for the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of Germany.
