Germany celebrates Unity Day amid protests

Hamburg/Berlin: Germany on Friday celebrated the 18th anniversary of the formal reunification of the western and eastern part of the country that had been divided in 1949 and was reunited in 1990 following the political implosion of the Eastern Bloc.

In the northern coast town of Hamburg a three-day party was kicked off on Friday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Kohler. Around 1,500 guests, including 100 ambassadors, took part in the official celebrations, local media reported.

According to German news TV channel NDR, some 1,600 left-wing protesters marched in opposition to the official festivities, shouting slogans against what they felt to be a "reactionary frenzy of unity" while their banners read "Reverse course!" and "No reason to celebrate October 3."

Police said there have been no clashes as of Friday evening.

Germany was reunited on October 3, 1990, when the five federal states of former communist German Democratic Republic were integrated into the western Federal Republic of Germany.

The reunification came at an estimated cost of 1.5 trillion euro (Dh7.8 trillion) and significantly changed Europe's post-Cold War landscape.