Berlin Wall Anniversary Sparks Cold War Rhetoric
German conservatives marked the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s construction with a rally and Cold War-style rhetoric, warning against what they see as a renewed Red menace.
“We must name the enemies of democracy and oppose them,” Christian Social Union stalwart Edmund Stoiber told a rally at Checkpoint Charlie, the Cold War’s best-known border crossing between East and West.
Stoiber said the successors to East Germany’s Communists, the Party of Democratic Socialism, pose as great a danger to democracy today as did their forefathers when they began building the wall Aug. 13, 1961.
The warning comes ahead of October elections in Berlin, where the PDS’ tacit support enabled the Social Democrats to take control after the conservative mayor was ousted in a scandal in June.
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