Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov participates in opening ceremony of Brandenburg Gates in Berlin

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov participated in the opening ceremony of the Brandenburg Gates in Berlin.

The opening of the Brandenburg Gates after the reconstruction became the culmination of the German Re-unification Day which is annually celebrated on October 3rd since Germany's re-unification in 1990. All in all, more than 1 million people participated in the central festive events in the German capital, with some 500,000 watching the opening of Berlin's historical and architectural symbol in Paris Square and Unter den Linden street.

German President Johannes Rau and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder with their wives, speakers of both houses of parliament Wolfgang Thierse and Klaus Wowereit and many foreign guests, including former US President Bill Clinton and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, participated in the ceremony.

Yuri Luzhkov congratulated Berlin residents on the "happy and grand event" - the completion of the Brandenburg Gates reconstruction, and wished both partner cities, Moscow and Berlin, further productive cooperation.