President Andrej Kiska has left for a German trip on October 9, invited by his counterpart Joachim Gauck. In Leipzig, he will attend the commemorative celebration of the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe, and a joint meeting of presidents of the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia) and Germany.
This German event is part of a series of meetings that had already taken place in Warsaw and Budapest and are slated to continue in November, in Bratislava and Prague.
Selecting Leipzig as the central location of celebrations should remind people that it was demonstrations in this regional heart of the land of Saxony in autumn 1989 that worked as the crucial impulse for the later nationwide fall of the communist regime and launch of democracy in the German Democratic Republic that led to later re-unification of Germany, the SITA newswire wrote.
The official programme starts in the morning, in the local concert hall Gewandhaus, the TASR newswire wrote. In the afternoon, presidents of Germany and the V4 group participate in the Peace Prayer in St Nicolaus’ Church, at which former US secretary of state James Baker shall hold a speech. The celebration will end in front of the Opera House with the Light Festivity at which presidents will make addresses and light candles.
(Source: SITA, TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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