"Gorbachev wrote world history" and changed her life fundamentally, says former Chancellor Merkel of the deceased former head of state of the Soviet Union. The Federal President bows to "a great statesman" - but his vision has been destroyed. Democracy in Russia failed under Putin, explains Scholz.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has praised Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev as "a unique world leader". "May the memory of his historic achievement make it possible to pause, especially during these terrible weeks and months of Russia's war against Ukraine," said a statement on the former chancellor's website. The former CDU leader continued to write that she heard the news of Gorbachev's death with great sadness.
"Gorbachev wrote world history. He showed how a single statesman can change the world for the better," she added. Without Gorbachev's courage "in glasnost and perestroika, i.e. in openness and restructuring, the peaceful revolution in the GDR would not have been possible." Merkel went on to say: "I can still feel the fear I shared with many people in the GDR in 1989, whether tanks would roll again like they did in 1953, when we shouted 'We are the people' and later 'We are one people' But this time - unlike in 1953 - no tanks rolled, no shots were fired." Instead, Gorbachev reproached the aging GDR leadership with the sentence "He who comes too late is punished by life."
In 1989/1990, Gorbachev no longer opposed the people's call for freedom in the GDR. "More than that, he allowed a reunified Germany to become a member of NATO." Unforgotten for her are the pictures of the meeting between him and the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the Caucasus in 1990, with which the unity of Germany in peace and freedom became within reach.
"Mikhail Gorbachev has also fundamentally changed my life. I will never forget it," declared Merkel. Gorbachev died in the Russian capital on Tuesday evening at the age of 91. He had been the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1991 he resigned as Soviet head of state.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also paid tribute to Gorbachev's achievements. "I bow to a great statesman," wrote the head of state in a letter of condolence to the daughter of the former Soviet head of state, Irina Wirganskaya. Germany remains connected to him, "in gratitude for his decisive contribution to German unity, in respect for his courage in democratic opening and in building bridges between East and West, and in memory of his great vision of a common and peaceful house in Europe". That dream has become increasingly distant. Gorbachev has suffered greatly from this in recent years. "Today the dream lies in ruins, shattered by Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine. Mikhail Gorbachev wanted a different future, we want a different future."
Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the late ex-president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, a courageous reformer and statesman. He helped the Iron Curtain disappear, "democracy and freedom have become possible in Europe and Germany could be united," said Scholz. The pro-democracy movements in Central and Eastern Europe "benefited from the fact that he had responsibilities in Russia at the time."
In Russia, Gorbachev made it possible for "an attempt to be made to establish a democracy," Scholz said. He died at a time when democracy in Russia had "failed". "There is no other way to describe the current situation there." For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin is digging "new rifts in Europe" and is waging "a terrible war" against Ukraine, emphasized Scholz. "That's why we're thinking of Mikhail Gorbachev and we know how important he was for the development of Europe and our country in recent years."
The end of the Cold War and German unity are Gorbachev's legacy, tweeted Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. "We mourn the loss of a statesman to whom we are eternally grateful." "In moments of destiny in our history, he allowed himself to be guided by peace and understanding between people."
