Koehler calls on European leaders to build better world (Extra)

Nov 9, 2009, 17:00 GMT

Berlin - German President Horst Koehler called on European leaders to 'engage in creating a better world,' during Monday's celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.

Koehler welcomed the leaders of all 27 European Union states, as well as the four Allied powers who partitioned Germany after World War II, at his official Bellevue residence in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

'The fall of the Berlin Wall allowed us to dare a new brand of politics,' Koehler said, calling on the assembled leaders and heads of state to jointly tackle the fight on poverty and climate change.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev mingled with leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Swedish Premier Fredrik Reinfeldt, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Polish Premier Donald Tusk.

The presence of so many EU leaders has prompted speculation that, behind the scenes, the small-talk would be dominated by the search for the first president of the European Union.

Guests included the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, Herman Van Rompuy and Jan Peter Balkenende, whom Brussels diplomats have tipped as front-runners for the post.

   British Foreign Minister David Miliband, cited by diplomats as the man most mentioned in connection with a second post of EU high representative, was also present at the Berlin festivities.

In deference to the occasion however, Reinfeldt - who currently heads the EU's rotating presidency - said the issue would not be formally addressed at a dinner in Merkel's Berlin office Monday night.

Official talk focused on events which toppled the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

'The Wall was a construction of fear. On November 9, 20 years ago, it became a place of joy,' Koehler said, adding, 'The transformation changed the face of our continent and the lives of millions of Europeans.'