Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Nov. 7 in Belgrade that the entire Western Balkan region will break down its "Berlin Wall" once all the countries of the region become full-fledged member-states of the European Union, and the process of unifying Europe will be completed in that historical moment.

"Only then will the day we are all dedicated to - Nov. 9, 1989 - have a full meaning and political dimension... As far as Serbia is concerned, European Union membership is our central strategic goal, and the modern, united Germany has a special role in the achievement of that goal," Tadic said at a celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Belgrade's Sava Center.

He said that the Berlin Wall was "a symbol of the divisions between people and families, a symbol of conflict in political influence on the European continent in the second half of the last century."

He also said that Serbia broke down its own "Berlin Walls" on Oct. 5, 2000, "which were built by the destructive politics of the undemocratic regime of the 1990s."

"The support of friendly Germany is of invaluable importance to us on the European road, and a strong and stable Serbia, a member of the European Union, will offer a better life to its citizens, but will also be a foundation for stability in the Western Balkans, which is of joint European interest," he said.

German ambassador to Serbia Wolfram Maas gave Tadic a piece of the Berlin Wall. He said that he received this piece of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago, and that he cannot think of a better way for Tadic to remember this night than to receive the gift.

Some 60 years ago our opponents, after the hardest fall in our history, gave us a chance. Germany faced the past and was able to win trust back and after overcoming dictatorship in Germany, it was able to unite the country again, Maas said.