Today 25 years have passed since US President Ronald Reagan and President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev met in Höfdi in Reykjavík, which marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Höfdi. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
A symposium on disarmament will be held to commemorate the anniversary. “We won’t organize any grand celebration this time. We decided to look into what is happening in matters of disarmament and peace; our mayor is a peace-loving man,” Eva Einarsdóttir, a Best Party representative in the Reykjavík City Council and chair of the Reykjavík Summit anniversary committee, told Morgunbladid.
The program begins with preschool children from Nóaborg forming the peace sign in front of Höfdi. An informal ceremony where Russian and American delegates meet in Höfdi and discuss what has happened since the Reykjavík Summit will follow in the afternoon.
October 13-15, Höfdi will be open to the public, who can learn about the Reykjavík Summit from 11 am to 4 pm. As part of the program, a concert will take place in Reykjavík City Hall on Thursday where Ólafur Arnalds, Thórunn Antonía Magnúsdóttir and the bands Nolo and Lockerbye will perform.
On Saturday afternoon the aforementioned symposium will take place in the Harpa concert and conference hall. “Among the speakers is Vigdís Finnbogadóttir [former president of Iceland] who will discuss her experience of the events that occurred 25 years ago and those which followed until present day,” Einarsdóttir said.
“Key speakers include Dr. Rebecca Johnson, one of the world’s foremost specialists in matters of disarmament and peace,” she added. Mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr will also address attendees.
In other news, the documentary In My Lifetime: A Presentation of the Nuclear World Project by Robert E. Frye, featuring the fight against nuclear weapons, will be aired on national broadcaster RÚV at 10 pm on October 12.
Gorbachev visited Höfdi on the 20th anniversary of the Reykjavík Summit.
Click here to read more about his visit.
ESA
