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German Unity Day at 35 Reminds Europe That History Is Not Over
Thirty-five years ago, Germany was officially reunited. What was then called “the end of history” proved instead to be a cliffhanger before the last chapter of the twentieth century—a chapter we are still living through today.
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![Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine]( "Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine")
-9ab3b63f905b2166694cb8db0903d1b9.jpg "Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine")
The main international document around German Unity is usually referred to as “4+2.” The “4” stood for the victorious powers of World War II—France, the UK, the USA, and the USSR. The “2” stood for the democratic Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet occupation regime known as the DDR. The latter was meant to disappear from the map, with its territory joining the Federal Republic of Germany.
And so it went. “4+2=Unity” became the ultimate answer to a dystopian century once scarred by Orwell’s “2+2=5.” The agreement not only ended the Soviet occupation of East Germany but also hastened the fall of the USSR itself. Some see this as the end of the Cold War. It could also be seen as the end of World War II. In 1939, the Third Reich and the USSR unleashed that war. The first was defeated in 1945. The second in 1991.
It was a time of new hope, a time to look to the next century with a bright future on the horizon. Goodbye Lenin. Hello world. That German Unity’s tune indeed carried “end of history” vibes—with the Scorpions’ Wind of Change forever echoing over the ruins of the Berlin Wall and “soldiers passing by” into peaceful eternity. The world was closing in, Europe was enlarging, freedom was expanding.
And yet, writing these words 35 years later—listening to air raid sirens and awaiting another night of Russian terror in a European capital—I am reminded: we do not live in an age of peaceful eternity. Europe is at war again. And it is not that something simply went wrong—it is Russia that went to war against Europe.
It is Russia that became the obstacle to the bright future of us all. Not only did Russia refuse to see itself as part of Europe after the Cold War, it chose instead to become anti-Europe. The bitter truth of modern Russia is that this “anti-Europe” stance is the only national idea it has. That delusion is crowned with Putin’s personal traumas. After spending his youth as a KGB lackey in Dresden, the overcompensating dictator likely sees German reunification as the second greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century—after the collapse of the USSR.
Russia wages its suicidal war today because it denies both Ukraine’s and Europe’s independence. It wages this war because Ukraine is Europe. It wages this war because Europe is Ukraine. Ukraine’s struggle for independence is what unites Europe today—it is the fight of us all, and for all of us.
And it is the day of Ukraine’s reunification—our full restoration of territorial integrity—that will mark the day of true European unity. That day will not come by itself. But it will come for sure—if Europe fights and works for it persistently with all its strength and unity.
Yet even then, it will not be “the end of history.” Still, it will mark the belated close of the totalitarian twentieth century. Better late than never. It is now or never.
I congratulate our true German friends, who have proven to be our reliable allies, on German Unity Day. Thank you for standing for the same values in 2025 as in 1990.
Long live Europe!
-e27d4d52004c96227e0695fe084d81c6.jpg "What It Feels Like When a Russian FPV Drone Attacks a Reporter—and That Reporter Is You")
