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US warns against Russia and China ahead of Berlin celebrations

As the world prepares to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Berlin wall falldown, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Western allies to defend hard-won freedoms.

Preparations at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to commemorate 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
Preparations at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to commemorate 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 RFI / Jan Van Der Made
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"Western, free nations have a responsibility to deter threats to our people" from governments like China, Russia and Iran, Pompeo said, speaking just a few metres away from where the Wall ran past the German capital's world-famous Brandenburg Gate.

The US and its allies should "defend what was so hard-won... in 1989" and "recognise we are in a competition of values with unfree nations," he added.

Pompeo is in Berlin to attend massive commemoration ceremonies to take place on November 9.

The East Side Gallery one of the last remaining stretches of the Berlin Wall repainted in 2009 by contemporary artists.
The East Side Gallery one of the last remaining stretches of the Berlin Wall repainted in 2009 by contemporary artists. RFI / Jan Van Der Made

Workshops and techno parties for the public

During the week preceding the anniversary, Berlin has organised pavilions on seven different locations that played a role at the time the wall came down.

These include Alexanderplatz (the central square of East Berlin during the cold war), the Brandenburg Gate, the East Side Gallery (one of the last remaining stretches of the wall) and the Kurfürstendamm, a sprawling shopping street in West Berlin.

The Kurfürstendamm was a symbol for western freedoms during the cold war.

The public can take part in workshops, watch historical slideshows and open-air performances.

On November 9, the core celebration will be held in front of the Brandenburger Gate, with a concert by the Staatskapelle Berlin led by Daniel Barenboim and a techno party with DJ WestBam pushing the vinyl.

 

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