On 19 August, Federal President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier will travel to Sopron. The purpose of the Federal President’s first trip to Hungary is to mark the 35th anniversary of the Pan-European Picnic, when hundreds of citizens from the former GDR used the temporary opening of the border between Hungary and Austria to flee to the West. The event is viewed as the first tear in the Iron Curtain, and it is a milestone on the path to the fall of the Berlin Wall. With his visit, the Federal President will pay tribute to the accomplishments and courage of the citizens of Hungary, who back then contributed to the unification of Europe. People who were present at the Pan-European Picnic and young members of the German-Hungarian Youth Office will accompany the Federal President on his trip.

Following his arrival in Sopron, Steinmeier is scheduled to meet with the President of Hungary, Tamás Sulyok. Afterwards, both Presidents will speak with participants of the German-Hungarian Summer Academy, which is being organised by the German-Hungarian Youth Office and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. After a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument in Fertőrákos to the Germans who were forcibly deported from Hungary, the main ceremony will take place at the Pan-European Picnic Memorial Park in Sopron. Both the Federal President and President Sulyok will be speaking at the event, which will include a joint wreath-laying ceremony and a meeting with people who participated in the Picnic and with young people.