“History changes” – politicians pay tribute to the late Gorbachev

Russian head of state Vladimir Putin will send a telegram to the family of the deceased expressing his “deepest condolences”, the Interfax news agency quoted Putin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov on Wednesday evening.

“Man with a remarkable vision”
US President Joe Biden praised Gorbachev as a “man of remarkable vision”. After decades of brutal political repression in the Soviet Union, he campaigned for democratic reforms, Biden said Tuesday (local time). “These were the actions of an extraordinary leader—one who had the imagination to envision a different future and the courage to risk her entire career to achieve it. The result was a safer world and more freedom for millions of people.”

Biden went on to explain that Gorbachev believed in glasnost and perestroika — not just as slogans, but as the way forward for the people of the Soviet Union after so many years of isolation and hardship. “As leader of the USSR, he worked with (US) President (Ronald) Reagan to shrink the nuclear arsenals of both our countries, to the relief of those around the world praying for an end to the nuclear arms race.”

“Unique statesman”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” by Gorbachev’s death. Guterres said Tuesday he was a “unique statesman” who changed the course of history. “He did more than anyone else to bring the Cold War to a peaceful end.” The Portuguese expressed his condolences to Gorbachev’s family and the people of Russia. The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s statement that peace is not unity in equality, but unity in diversity, was put into practice with his policy.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the importance of the former Soviet head of state Gorbachev for Europe. “He played a crucial role in ending the Cold War and the fall of the Iron Curtain,” von der Leyen wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening. She described Gorbachev as a leader who was trustworthy and respected. “He paved the way for a free Europe. We will never forget this legacy.”

“He never got any recognition at home”
“Michail Gorbachev has shaped the rapprochement between East and West like no other after the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe and the end of the Cold War. May he rest in peace,” tweeted Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Tuesday evening in a first response. Werner Kogler (Greens) on Twitter.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to Gorbachev’s historic legacy. “I have always admired the courage and integrity he showed to end the Cold War peacefully,” Johnson wrote on Twitter late Tuesday night. He also confronted Gorbachev with Russian President Putin. “At a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his unwavering commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to all of us,” Johnson wrote.

“Changing history together”
French President Emmanuel Macron praised the late Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner as a “man of peace”. His decision opened “a path to freedom” for the Russians, Macron wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening. “His commitment to peace in Europe has changed our common history.”

Gorbachev gave us freedom
The prominent liberal Russian opposition politician Grigory Yavlinsky praised Gorbachev as a world changer. “Gorbachev gave us freedom. He gave freedom to millions of people – in Russia and the surrounding area and in half of Europe,” the founder of the opposition party Yabloko wrote in his blog on the news channel Telegram on Wednesday evening.

Yavlinsky and the Yabloko party are the last remnants of the opposition in Russia. It is still the responsibility of the Russians to make use of the freedom they were given then, Jawlinski said. Few leaders would have had such an impact on history. “In his six years in power, Mikhail Gorbachev has changed the world,” the politician underlined.

Let people taste freedom
Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party in 1985 at the age of 54. He began to reform the system through political and economic freedoms. His “glasnost” policy of transparency allowed not only criticism of the party and the state. She encouraged nationalists who called for the independence of, for example, the Baltic states. Many Russians have not forgiven him for the disruptions unleashed by his reforms. When pro-democracy demonstrations swept across the Eastern Bloc in 1989, Gorbachev refrained from using violence. On December 25, 1991, he announced his resignation on television. 15 individual states emerged from the Soviet Union.