Angela Merkel hails the courage of activists who helped to bring down the former communist east German regime

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the Left Party to clearly distance itself from the policies of the former communist East Germany. A significant portion of the Left Party's membership is made up of one time communists. Merkel made the comments as the country begins marking a series of events to honor the peaceful revolution that brought down the totalitarian government 20 years ago, paving the way for German unification.