<P> The removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria occurred in 1989 during the collapse of communism in Hungary, which was part of a broad wave of revolutions in various communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe . The dismantling of the electric fence along Hungary's 240 kilometres (149 mi) long border with Austria was the first fissure in the "Iron Curtain" that had divided Europe for more than 40 years, since the end of World War II, and caused a chain reaction in East Germany that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Berlin Wall . </P> <P> In April 1989, the Hungarian government ordered the electricity in the barbed - wire border fence along the Hungary--Austria border turned off . The following month, border guards began removing sections of the barrier--filmed by Western TV crews summoned for the occasion . On 27 June Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gyula Horn, and his Austrian counterpart, Alois Mock, held a symbolic fence - cutting ceremony at the Sopron (Hungary) border crossing . </P>

When did hungary open its borders with austria