Berlin Wall: Gorbachev Warns Of New Cold War

Mikhail Gorbachev has warned that "the world is on the brink of a new Cold War" if poor relations between major nations continue.

Speaking at an event to mark 25 years since the Berlin Wall fell, the eighth and final Soviet leader urged the West to rebuild its ties with Russia.

The 83-year-old said: "Bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East, against the backdrop of a breakdown in dialogue between major powers, is of enormous concern right now.

"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some people are even saying that it's already begun."

It was Mr Gorbachev's reforms, including a loosening of Soviet control over its former communist satellites, that led to events that brought the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

His policies of glasnost and perestroika (openness and restructuring) earned him admiration in the west and the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.

His comments near the Brandenburg Gate were echoed by Roland Dumas, the former French Foreign Minister, who said "without peace and respect between nations, everything could start over again tomorrow".

Final preparations are being made for a "citizen's festival" on Sunday, with millions of people expected to attend the celebrations. More than 8,000 illuminated balloons, used to recreate a 15km stretch of the Wall, will be released to symbolise its collapse.

In a speech to Berliners, Mayor Klaus Wowereit said the light installation offered "the possibility to tear down the wall for a second time".

He added: "This time people from around the world will send off messages, which are fixed to the balloons, messages for peace and hope that all the walls in the world will fall, concrete walls and the walls in people's heads."

In a German television interview, Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a "miracle" that the events of 9 November 1989 happened peacefully.

The politician, who was working as a scientist in Communist East Berlin at the time, described "an incredible feeling of happiness" on the night the Wall opened, which she spent celebrating with strangers.

Among the entertainment on Sunday will be the Berlin State Orchestra, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, and East German rock band Silly.

British singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel will perform the Wall anthem "Heroes", which David Bowie recorded when he lived in West Berlin.

A museum dedicated to the Berlin Wall, which closed in October 2013, will also reopen to coincide with the anniversary.

The new Documentation Centre of the Berlin Wall Memorial shows 500 exhibits, photographs and videos illustrating Germany's separation from 1961 until 1989.