Eastern Europe

Yesterday evening at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Secretary Clinton once again declared that the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall should serve as a "call to action" to "advance freedom" for the millions of people around the world who still face obstacles and lack opportunity. In her remarks, she said:

Two decades later, we remember. But it is also a call to action. There are still millions across our world who are separated -- maybe not by walls, maybe not by barbed wire, although that still exists -- but who are separated from loved ones, who are kept down and behind, unable to fulfill their own destinies. So as beneficiaries of this great bequest we inherited in 1989, those of us gathered here tonight, leaders and citizens alike, we must pledge ourselves to work together to advance freedom beyond its current frontiers so that people everywhere are afforded the opportunities to pursue their dreams and live up to their God-given potential.

Above: Clinton reviews an honor guard carrying torches at Bellevue Palace -- the home of the German president -- in Berlin. 

Below: Clinton appears on the big screens that flanked the Brandenburg Gate yesterday. In front are some of the 1,000 giant dominoes that were toppled to symbolize the fall of the Berlin Wall. (Check out this cool video of the dominoes falling.)

Photos, top to bottom: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images, WOLFGANG RATTAY/AFP/Getty Images

It looks cold and rainy in Berlin right now, but Clinton is there in full force:

Clinton delivers a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate during celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (left), French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, German President Horst Köhler, Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attend celebrations near the Brandenburg Gate for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Approximately 1,000 giant foam dominoes, painted by children and artists from around the world, are meant to symbolically represent the fall of communism across Eastern Europe and are the highlight of the celebrations.

Woman power: Earlier in the day, Merkel (the most powerful woman in the world) greeted Clinton (the 36th most powerful, according to Forbes) prior to bilateral talks. 

Photos, top to bottom: WOLFGANG RATTAY/AFP/Getty Images, Hennig Schacht-Pool/Getty Images, MICHAEL KAPPELER/AFP/Getty Images

Last night at a gala banquet in Berlin, Secretary Clinton received an Atlantic Council Freedom Award on behalf of the American people. Above, she holds the award while posing with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, an Atlantic Council board member who introduced Clinton.

In delivering the evening's keynote address, Clinton said the festivities surrounding the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall "should be a call to action, not just a commemoration of past actions. That call should spur us to continue our cooperation and to look for new ways that we can meet the challenges that freedom faces now."

She went on to say:

We need to form an even stronger partnership to bring down the walls of the 21st century and to confront those who hide behind them: the suicide bombers, those who murder and maim girls whose only wish is to go to school, leaders who choose their own fortunes over the fortunes of their people."

Very inspiring words indeed -- calling for people to use the spirit that animated the wall's fall to fight terrorism and authoritarian regimes. Hopefully it will move people to action, but Thomas Carothers, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is skeptical that Europeans will buy into the Bush-era "trope" of linking the Cold War and extremism. He told Agence France-Presse via e-mail:

Facing difficult pressures on Afghanistan, the Obama administration marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by revving up a rhetorical trope that President Bush favored. … Europeans and others never found it very convincing under Bush. … I suspect they won't like it much better now."

But between Clinton's star power and President Obama's hope-oriented charisma, the new U.S. administration has an inspiring and influential presence that Bush never had. Sometimes you just need the right messenger for your message.

Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton unveiled a statue of 19th-century American poet Walt Whitman at Moscow State University today. The statue -- from the D.C. mayor -- reciprocated a statue of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin that was presented to the U.S. capital from the Moscow mayor in 2000. The Pushkin statue stands on the campus of George Washington University, at 22nd and H streets NW.

Many people think Whitman was gay, and Russian gay-rights activists had called on Clinton to denounce anti-gay attitudes. Clinton did not mention gay rights in her brief remarks at the unveiling, but she has definitely done much to promote human rights and openness during her visit to Russia.

Photo: Valeriy Yevseyev, U.S. State Department

Secretary Clinton hasn't been shy about pushing for human rights and openness in Russia. Yesterday she met with human rights activists and opposition journalists in Spaso House, the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Russia. Today, she did an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio (great photos here) in which she continued to press for human rights.

During the interview (transcript here), she said:

I have no doubt in my mind that democracy is in Russia's best interests, that respecting human rights, an independent judiciary, a free media are in the interests of building a strong, stable political system that provides a platform for broadly shared prosperity. We will continue to say that and we will continue to support those who also stand for those values."

Referring to the killing of journalists in Russia, which she discussed at Spaso House, Clinton said:

I mentioned the killings of journalists, and I said that this is a matter of grave concern not just to the United States, but to the people of Russia, and not just to the activists, but to people who worry that unsolved killings are a very serious challenge to order and to the fair functioning of society, and that we did not believe that enough was being done to make sure that no one had impunity from prosecution who might have been involved in any such criminal acts."

It's great that Clinton spoke up for human rights and didn't let realpolitik get in the way, as some accuse her of doing in China in February.

Photo: Valeriy Yevseyev, U.S. State Deptartment

I just returned from the Brookings Institution, where I heard Secretary Clinton deliver a speech previewing the United States' priorities during next week's U.N. General Assembly session.

Before diving into her speech though, Clinton remarked on President Obama's announcement yesterday of changes in the U.S. missile defense program. She said the new system stemmed from a "lengthy and in-depth assessment" of the threats posed by Iran and is based on the United States' "best understanding of Iran's capability."

The new system will "deploy sooner," be "more comprehensive," and have a "better capacity to protect." Clinton said it will "deploy technology that's actually proven" to work and "does what missile defense is actually supposed to do." She added that criticisms of the new system are "not connected to the facts."

Then Clinton delved into her official remarks. Nonproliferation of nuclear weapons will be the main topic that the United States will address next week. Clinton will lead the U.S. delegation to a conference on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the first time that a U.S. secretary of state has attended such a conference.

Another key topic for the United States next week will be Iran. The issue isn't Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, she said. Rather, she firmly stressed, the problem is that for years Iran has not lived up to its responsibilities to demonstrate that its program is "exclusively for peaceful purposes."

Clinton said that the United States' past refusal to engage Iran had yielded no progress and added, "We remain ready to engage." (Whether Iran is ready to engage on talking nukes, however, is an entirely different story.)

Some other tidbits:

•Clinton said the United States and Iraq have entered a new, "more mature partnership."

•Clinton will be chairing a session on women, peace, and security at the U.N. General Assembly session. She said, "If women are free from violence and afforded their rights," they can be "change agents."

•On corruption, Clinton said it was a "security problem," not just a "good government concern."

•Finally, at the end, Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott asked Clinton about U.S. health-care reform. Clinton said, "We're going to be successful," but went on to say it "won't be pretty."

Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, among other things, Secretary Clinton, as shown above, attended President Obama's speech on closing the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. (Sitting with her are U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), far left, and CIA Director Leon Panetta.)

Today, she moves on to accepting an award from the National Coordinated Effort of Hellenes. One of the main issues the group appears to tackle is the highly sensitive "FYROM"/"Republic of Macedonia" name issue. Greece wants the "Republic of Macedonia" to instead be called the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (or "FYROM" for short). The U.S. State Department currently states on its background note for the country that the "official name" is "Republic of Macedonia." To people not familiar with the centuries of history behind the name dispute, it might sound like a trivial issue, but actually it's sensitive enough that it caused rioting last year and is affecting "FYROM"/"Republic of Macedonia"'s ability to enter NATO and the European Union.

The official schedule for today:

9:30 a.m. Receive Award from the National Coordinated Effort of Hellenes in the Treaty Room.

11:30 a.m. Bilateral with His Excellency Karel De Gucht, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium.

Update: When asked about the name issue at the award presentation, Clinton said:

Well, we have been very committed to that. I have spoken out about the need to resolve the name issue in a way that is acceptable to both parties. And Deputy Secretary [James] Steinberg was recently in the region making that case. We have picked up this issue with a lot of commitment early on in our administration. Obviously, this has to be resolved by the parties themselves, but we are urging that resolution. We think it is in everyone's best interest. As you said, it would open the way for movement toward another nation joining the European Union, which we think promotes stability in the region, so we are very committed to doing what the United States can to facilitate that.

As mentioned yesterday, Secretary Clinton is leading the U.S. delegation at a donors conference on Haiti today. She also has a couple of other meetings later in the day as well, including one with the Georgian foreign minister, whom FP interviewed in January.

Her official schedule:

7:45 a.m. Breakfast with Vice President Biden

9:00 a.m. Attend Haiti Donors Conference at the Inter-American Development Bank, Enrique V. Iglesias Conference Center, 1330 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

3:45 p.m. Bilateral with His Excellency Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
 
4:15 p.m. Meeting with State Councilor Liu Yandong [another woman, by the way] of the People’s Republic of China.

I couldn't find any Getty photos of Clinton in Haiti, but here's the most recent one I could find of her in the Caribbean. It was during the presidential primaries last year, when she campaigned in Puerto Rico.

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) waves to supporters from a truck as she drives through the streets May 31, 2008, in Cataño, Puerto Rico. Clinton is campaigning in Puerto Rico ahead of the caucus to be held on Sunday [June 1].

And while I was searching Getty Images for Hillary-in-the-Caribbean photos, I came upon this old romantic one from the archives:

U.S. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton dance on the beach of Magens Bay, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Jan. 4, 1998, shortly after taking a swim. The president and his family concluded their vacation on the tropical island and are returning to Washington.

Photos, top to bottom: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images