Gorbachev commemoration in the Bundestag: “A man of peace”

Before the general debate, the Bundestag commemorated the late former Soviet President Gorbachev. Parliament President Bas praised him as a “man of peace” who changed the “world for the better”.

The Bundestag commemorated the late Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev with a minute’s silence. “President Gorbachev was a man of peace. He changed the world for the better. He made possible what seemed unthinkable for decades: ending the Cold War peacefully and overcoming the division of our country and our continent,” said Bundestag President Bärbel Bas. “We Germans owe a lot to Mikhail Gorbachev.”

Bas recalled how a century marked by bloc confrontation and nuclear deterrence under Gorbachev experienced peaceful change and trust was built. Gorbachev’s services to the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany and the European continent “remain unique”. There are probably few politicians who are so revered in Germany, said Bas.

Russia ‘radically turned away from Gorbachev’s goals’

At the same time, she warned against a fundamental misunderstanding. “We Germans in particular have assumed Gorbachev’s striving for understanding, peace and partnership as the basis of our relationship with Russia for too long. In doing so, we overlooked or perhaps did not want to admit that Russia under Putin had long since and radically turned away from Gorbachev’s goals.” It hurts deeply that everything Gorbachev stood for “is being violated and destroyed in such a blatant way today,” said Bas.

Gorbachev was the last head of state of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. He died last week at the age of 91.