STORY: NOTE: YOU WILL RECEIVE THIS CONTRIBUTION WITHOUT VOICE TEXT. O-TON OF FEDERAL CHANCELLOR OLAF SCHOLZ: “Mikhail Gorbachev is dead. He was a courageous reformer and a statesman who dared a lot. We will not forget that perestroika made it possible for Russia to attempt a democracy to establish and that democracy and freedom in Europe have become possible, that Germany has been able to be united and the Iron Curtain has disappeared.The democracy movement in Central and Eastern Europe also benefited from his having responsibilities in Russia at the time.We know that he died at a time when not only did democracy in Russia fail – there is no other way to describe the current situation there – but also when Russia and Russian President Putin were digging new rifts in Europe and waging a terrible war against a neighboring country , Ukraine, and that is why we think of Mikhail Gorbachev and know what importance he has for the development in Europe and also in our country in recent years.”