Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (far right, CDU) stands behind a sign reading "Together for Freedom" during the symbolic opening of the European headquarters of the World Liberty Congress on Waisenstraße, alongside Leopoldo Lopez (second from left) and Masih Alinejad (third from left) - both founders of the World Liberty Congress - and the participants of the inaugural event.
© dpa
Berlin intends to step up its support for people who are working to promote freedom and democracy in autocratic states.
Around the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November, there will once again be a "Berlin Freedom Week," which debuted last year. Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) announced this together with the organizers.
In addition, the World Liberty Congress now has its European headquarters in Berlin-Mitte. The organization, which includes more than 200 dissidents from some 50 autocratic countries, is considered the world’s largest democracy alliance. Wegner and the organization’s founders, Masih Alinejad from Iran and Leopoldo López from Venezuela, unveiled a plaque on the building, which also houses the Robert Havemann Society.
This year, the "Berlin Freedom Week" is scheduled for November 7–14. As part of this event, a "Women Liberty Congress" is scheduled for November 7 and 8, and a "Freedom Conference" is set for November 10. The latter is scheduled to take place at the Colosseum movie theater in Prenzlauer Berg - not far from the Gethsemane Church, which was an important meeting place for the GDR opposition. At the first Freedom Conference in 2025, many persecuted opposition figures and former political prisoners from around the world called for the fight for democracy and freedom.
Wegner said that, for him, "freedom" is the most important word in German. "Berlin is the City of Freedom, and we owe that above all to the courageous people who took to the streets in the fall of 1989 and brought down the Wall." But Berlin is also the city of hope for all freedom-loving people worldwide. "At the end of the day, freedom prevails. In the end, the people triumph over tyranny and dictatorship." Berlin will always stand alongside freedom-loving people and always support the fight for freedom and democracy, said the CDU politician.