Mirëmbrëma zonja dhe zotërinj, të dashur kolegë dhe kolege,

me këto pamje dëshiroj t'ju përshëndes përzemërsisht në aktivitetin tonë me rastin e 30 vjetorit të rënies së Murit të Berlinit.

Good evening. The 9th of November 1989, the day on which the Berlin Wall fell, marked the climax of a peaceful revolution in which the citizens of the former German Democratic Republic played a main role. Allow me to briefly recall the historical context.

Quite a few East Germans did everything in their power to leave a State that had refused to grant them basic freedoms and especially the freedom to travel. They went to the Western German Embassies in Warsaw, Prague and Budapest and thousands managed to escape. Others, staying in East Germany, demanded fundamental reforms, which the regime could not agree to without setting in motion its decline.

Given this assault on two fronts, despite massive security measures, the GDR collapsed like a house of cards in the space of just a few months. The speed of the changes was breath-taking. In the beginning of the year 1989, the 40th anniversary of GDR, no one had expected such developments!

Of course the events of the 9th of November had several reasons. However, one main driving force was the will of the people to change the system, to live in a free, democratic country. This, combined with the non-intervention and cooperation of the Soviet Union and the support of the Western Allies led by the US, paved the way to overcome the division of Germany and for the country to be finally reunited on 3 October 1990.

When East and West Germans embraced each other with tears of joy in the night of the 9th of Nov, 30 years ago, this spelled not only the end to the division of Germany. When the Wall came down, the Iron Curtain, which had divided our European continent for 40 years, was also torn apart.

And, inspired by the events in many East and Central European countries, the wind of change came to blow here in Albania as well. Seven months later, another German wall fell – one wall of the German embassy premises in Tirana was crashed by Albanian citizens using a truck. The rest is history that you, dear Albanian guests, could tell much better than I possibly can.

Today, the 9th of November 2019, is a day where we want to express our deep respect to the courage of those who gathered in Leipzig, Berlin or Tirana to overcome isolation and separation: Civil rights activists, Christian groups, NGOs, courageous individuals carried the peaceful revolution and demanded change. The slogan of thousands and thousands of protesters: „Wir sind das Volk“, „We are the people“ was heard.

This year, we framed our German October with the motto „From WALLS to BRIDGES“, or in Shqip „gur, gur bëhet URË“ to pay tribute to the events of 30 years ago.

To celebrate this anniversary, together with Goethe-Zentrum, we have chosen to show a film which has a very particular perspective on what occurred on the evening of the 9th of November in Berlin: „Bornholmer Straße“. The Bornholmer Straße in the North of Berlin used to be a border crossing point between East and West Berlin. The Schwochow family – Christian as director, his parents Heide and Rainer as authors – who wrote and directed the movie, chose to tell the story from the perspective of Harald Schäfer, the GDR border forces officer commanding that border crossing point during the historic November night.

I am sure that this movie will bring back some of the feelings we all had when we saw the real footage of that night for the first time.

This is the last evening of this year’s German October. Let me seize the opportunity to thank again all the sponsors for their contribution and to thank my culture and press team for planning and organizing the fascinating series of events we have so much enjoyed. The team leader, Enrico Günther and Artan Begolli are here. Please join me in giving them a great hand of applause.

After the screening, I would like to invite you to eat and drink and cheer with us in the restaurant Millennium which is located right next to the cinema.

But now: Enjoy the movie!

Shumë faleminderit.