Story
End of the Berlin Airlift: Pistorius calls for solidarity
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistoris (Ml) and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner take part in the ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift. photo
© Carsten Koall/dpa
75 years ago, the airlift secured supplies for West Berlin. Defense Minister Pistorius comes to the ceremony – and draws lessons for the future from the anniversary.
Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius has called for support for international order and peace in view of the end of the Berlin Airlift 75 years ago.
“The airlift showed how important it is to do the right thing. If our partners had just shrugged their shoulders or argued that the costs were too high and the risks were too high, Berlin would most likely have been finished “, said the SPD politician at the ceremony in the capital. “As naturally as our allies stood up for us back then, we must clearly stand up for our international order, for peace and freedom today.”
According to the SPD politician, Germany cannot sit still when authoritarian forces around the world impose their will on sovereign states and peoples. “We cannot stand by while international law, our order and our values are trampled on.” This applies worldwide – in Africa, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific and especially in Ukraine. Pistorius also recalled the value of international cooperation.
The Allies secured supplies for West Berlin with more than 270,000 flights in 1948/49. In response to the introduction of the German mark in the West, the Soviet Union blocked land and water routes and severely restricted electricity and gas supplies. With their landings every minute, the Allies ensured the survival of two million people. In addition to Pistorius, Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) also took part in the celebrations.