Peaceful picnic celebrated - caused the wall and communism to fall

Thirty years ago, a peace picnic was organized in Sopron, northern Hungary, by a Christian group that wanted to bridge the conflicts between East and West.

This led to the first major mass escape from East Germany and became one of the important steps towards the fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism. The two German states could be reunited and Europe's division to the east and west ended.

During the summer and autumn of 1989, pressure from the East Germans grew stronger, but their leaders remained deaf to the demands of reform and travel relief. Persistent efforts for democracy had in Poland the same year had the ruling communists voluntarily relinquish power to the opposition. Hungary helped dismantle the iron curtain barge that divided Europe after the Second World War.

The strong popular pressure and the depleted economies caused the communist states of Eastern Europe to collapse as short-lived houses. Shortly thereafter, the Soviet Union disbanded.

In the city of Sopron, Hungary, on Monday, the celebration of the peace picnic which became one of the milestones on the road to a united Europe was commemorated.

But the celebration made clear today's contradictions within the EU. The view of migration has created a deep divide and locked positions within the Union. Germany and Sweden are among the states that work for a fair distribution of refugees and migrants, something that countries like Hungary and Poland oppose.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the historic opportunity to urge her Hungarian colleague Viktor Orbán to more compromise in the EU. The border opening in Sopron thirty years ago is an example of what we can do if "we boldly stand behind our values," Merkel said in a speech.

Orbán believes Merkel's actions in connection with the 2015 refugee wave were erroneous and opposes receiving migrants.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new wall with barbed wire has been erected. The high-tech fence runs along Hungary - and the EU border - towards the outside world.