Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev is dead

Created: 08/30/2022Updated: 08/30/2022, 23:24

The people of Bonn gave the Soviet head of state and party leader Michael Gorbachev and his wife Raissa a unique welcome when they both visited the town hall.

During the "bath in the crowd" the guests from Moscow had to shake numerous hands.

© Frank Kleefeldt/dpa

"Gorbi" was one of the last living fathers of German unity.

Now the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who fought for democratic freedoms in Russia to the end, has died.

Moscow – The Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev is dead. He died in Moscow on Tuesday evening at the age of 91.

"Tonight Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev died after a long and serious illness," said the Central Clinical Hospital (ZKB) in the Russian capital.

Former US President George Bush (lr), former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU) sit next to each other in the palace after the "Order of White Lio" was awarded.

© Michal Dolezal/CTK/dpa

The world-renowned politician was considered one of the fathers of German unity and a pioneer for the end of the Cold War.

East Germans in particular revere "Gorbi", as they call him, to this day as a statesman who brought them freedom more than three decades ago.

Glasnost and Perestroika

In the 1980s, under Gorbachev's leadership, the Soviet Union signed groundbreaking nuclear disarmament and arms control treaties with the United States.

In his home country, Gorbachev, as General Secretary of the Communist Party, initiated an unprecedented reform process with his policy of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).

This brought unprecedented freedom to people in the totalitarian system.

In 1990 Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for his courageous reforms.

The political process led to massive upheavals in all republics of the Soviet state and ultimately to the collapse of the communist empire.

A large part of the Russian population always saw the former party and head of state as the gravedigger of the Soviet Union - and as a politician without an instinct for power.

Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union in 1991, before the state dissolved itself shortly afterwards.

The new strongman in Moscow at the time was Russian President Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007).

Disappointed in the Germans

Up until his death, Gorbachev had rendered outstanding services to his own political foundation in Moscow.

The organization advocates democratic values ​​and a rapprochement between Russia and the West.

Gorbachev wrote numerous books - most recently also about his disappointment with the Germans and the West.

Specifically, he complained that new enemy images were being drawn against Russia.

For health reasons, he did not travel to the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in autumn 2019.

He has had to be hospitalized repeatedly over the past few years.

With a symbolic walk across the former Bornholmer Strasse border checkpoint, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) with Mikhail Gorbachev (l) and the former Polish trade unionist and President Lech Walesa (M) commemorates the fall of the Wall 20 years ago in Berlin on November 9th, 2009.

© Rainer Jensen/dpa

The politician was a co-owner of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta", which is critical of the Kremlin and repeatedly uncovers abuses in Russia.

In recent years, Gorbachev has repeatedly asked Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin not to further restrict the freedom of the media and elections.

German politicians pay tribute to Gorbachev

Several federal politicians paid tribute to Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev shortly after his death became known.

Without Gorbachev, "the peaceful revolutions in the countries of the Eastern bloc, here, would have been unthinkable," wrote Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) on Twitter.

"His words have encouraged us, made me strong."

Germany owes a lot to Gorbachev, Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) also wrote on Twitter.

“He ushered in the end of the Cold War, enabled Germany's reunification and gave his country democratic momentum.

A courageous man of conviction whose voice will be missed.” Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) made a similar statement and added: “His death is depressing.

Even more so at this time.

Thank you & #RIP“.

Green politician Jürgen Trittin tweeted: "I bow to a great politician of peace Michael #Gorbachev RIP".

The statesman is buried in Moscow at the New Maiden Cemetery for celebrities - next to his wife Raisa.

dpa