On 19 August, Federal President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier traveled to Sopron. The purpose of the Federal President’s first trip to Hungary was 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 payed 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 accompanied the Federal President on his trip.
Following his arrival in Sopron, Steinmeier met with the President of Hungary, Tamás Sulyok. Afterwards, both Presidents spoke with participants of the German-Hungarian Summer Academy, which was 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 took place at the Pan-European Picnic Memorial Park in Sopron. Both the Federal President and President Sulyok spoke at the event, which included a joint wreath-laying ceremony and a meeting with people who participated in the Picnic and with young people.
