Clinton delivered the Herbert Quandt Distinguished Lecture at Georgetown University on Monday

November 8, 1999
Web posted at: 8:35 p.m. EST (0135 GMT)

In this story: Cold War leaders attend ceremony Economic progress follows fall of communism RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bill Clinton said Monday the United States must reaffirm its determination to finish the job begun in Europe 10 years ago with the demise of the Berlin Wall.

It is important, he said during an address at Georgetown University, to remember the role America was privileged to play in securing the freedom of nations in Eastern Europe, and to review its subsequent efforts.

It is important the U.S. help "complete a Europe whole, free, democratic and at peace for the first time in all of history," Clinton said. He was delivering the Herbert Quandt Distinguished Lecture and celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Wall's demise.

VIDEO CNN's Chris Burns goes to the former East Germany to examine the situation Windows Media 28K 80K     RESOURCES Witness the excitement surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall Key dates in Berlin Wall's history CNN Special: Cold War Destination: The Berlin Wall     ALSO Many East Germans resent West German takeover of businesses     MESSAGE BOARD Germany today

"Today we celebrate one of history's most remarkable triumphs of human freedom, on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, surely one of the happiest and most important days of the 20th century," Clinton said.

Cold War leaders attend ceremony

Three Cold War leaders participated in a ceremony in Berlin to mark the occasion. Former President George Bush was awarded honorary citizenship of Berlin during an event led by former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev attended.

"You didn't just pay lip service to the goal of overcoming the division of Europe and Germany," Kohl said to Bush. "Rather, you put yourself at the forefront of those who encouraged us on the way to unity."

Also attending the lecture at Georgetown were U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Slovak Prime Minister Mikolas Dzurinda and Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman.

"The Berlin Wall crumbled, Politburos resigned and governments vanished overnight. Half a million Czechs and Slovaks gathered ... in Prague and we sensed that a long, absent angel had returned home to Central Europe," Albright said.

Economic progress follows fall of communism

Communism fell because it rejected freedom and private ownership, Dzurinda said. The demise of communism was also due to the desire of nations to live in freedom and the support their people received from the democratic world.

"If you lose hope, you lose everything. This was the main danger of communism," Zeman said. "Now there is economic progress in this area of the world and there is political democracy ... Thank you America."

Clinton noted there is an ambitious agenda, which deserves bipartisan support, for the coming year.

According to Clinton, the United States will:

• Work with Middle East leaders during the next 100 days to achieve a framework peace agreement
• Attempt to secure peace in the Balkans
• Help stabilize Russia's economy
• Help ease tensions between Pakistan and India
• Work to bring China into the World Trade Organization while addressing human rights issues
• Attempt to restrain North Korea's missile program
• Work with other nations to fight terrorism

  "To meet those challenges and more, we simply must hold on to the qualities that sustained us throughout the long Cold War: the wisdom to see that America benefits when the rest of the world is moving towards prosperity, to recognize that if we wait until problems come home to America before we act, they will come home to America," Clinton said.

  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  
  

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  BerlinOnline
  History of the Berlin Wall
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