MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) - Europe's dividing lines survive even 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia's PACE delegation head said on Friday.
November 9 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the 160-km concrete barrier between East and West Berlin, the symbolic demarcation line between the socialist camp in Eastern Europe and the West.
Konstantin Kosachyov said Russia and Europe had retained most of their differences, "which means the dividing lines in Europe have survived the fall of the Berlin Wall."
Kosachyov, who also heads the international affairs committee at the lower house of Russia's parliament, referred to visa restrictions and certain "indirect" limitations for Russian businesses.
Commenting on the coming anniversary, his colleague in the upper house, Mikhail Margelov, described what happened on November 9, 1989, as one of the most crucial events of the history of the late 20th century.
However, he criticized both the West and Russia for having missed the chance to forge a peace based on "benign cooperation."
"The Berlin Wall has been replaced with a sanitary cordon of ex-Soviet nations, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea," the Russian senator said, adding that the destruction of the Berlin Wall had not solved the notorious "Russian question."
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