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<P><B>MAYOR'S SPEECH AT THE PLATZ DER REPUBLIK - JANUARY 2049</B>
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<P>The future of Europe never looked as grim as it did in the 2020s. New tensions between the East and the West arose from the economic and political turmoil. Internal conflicts, sometimes degenerating into a state of civil war, have been the norm - especially in Eastern Europe.
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<P>Germany was struck hard by the crisis of the 2020s. In events that were reminiscent of the Paris Commune in 1871, the people of Berlin rebelled against the federal government and seceded from the Republic. The situation led to the 2020s Berlin Crisis and inner-city fighting increased to levels that the Ossies and Wessies from the most strained days of the Cold War COULD NOT have faced even in their nightmares. 
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<P>As the break-up of the European Union was imminent and the federal government did not want the crisis to spread elsewhere, a compromise was struck between the factions in Berlin and the German federal government. Berlin was given the status of an International City - in a similar way to the Free City of Danzig in the 1920s. The seat of the German government was moved to Bonn.
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<P>Many areas in the city were in ruins and many of them still haven't been rebuilt due to various ongoing economic and political debates. With the help of many international supporters, most notably the Russia-based multinational XVA Corporation, the First Berlin Metropolitan Assembly decreed the construction of a new district, simply named Neustadt to emphasize its importance as a new beginning for Berliners. XVA's presence in the city has become ubiquitous and the BMA donated the war-devastated land facing the Reichstag building for the corporation's headquarters.
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<P>What's next for Berlin? The end of the rebuilding process is still far away in the horizon, and understandably people are getting worried that the BMA is focusing too much of its attention on Neustadt. Many areas, even in Tiergarten surrounding the XVA Headquarters, have the ruins of the old buildings swept away, but none put in their place.
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<P>But as many events of history seem to have repeated themselves in present-day Berlin, the Reichstag building stands firm and intact. The city has not devolved into the breeding ground for extremist groups, and the presence of UNATCO has also strengthened its new status as an International City.
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<P>But we shall do our best to make the zeitgeist of the 2050s be on the same line as the Wirtschaftswunder 100 years ago.
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<P>- Mayor Thomas van Eekelen