People and Politics # 60 Years of Russian-German Relations - Why the Countries Are Closer Than Ever # 17.04.2009

Germany and Russia have long had an uneasy relationship. World War II and the Cold War did much to damage relations. Then, just, as the USSR and West Germany were slowly normalising relations, the Berlin Wall fell. The USSR broke up and the two Germanys reunited. We speak with the two men credited with thawing the chill in Russian-German relations: former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Valentin Falin, once Soviet ambassador to West Germany and later an advisor to the Russian government.