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Left faction leader Dietmar Bartsch
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
The parliamentary group leader of the left in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, calls for a separate commemoration event in Germany for the Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev.
“In any case, Germany should make its own assessment of Gorbachev.
Without him, German reunification would not have happened," Bartsch told SPIEGEL.
"A ceremony in the Bundestag would also be conceivable," said the left-wing politician.
Bartsch said the only autograph he ever got in his life was from Gorbachev.
Gorbachev died in Moscow on Tuesday at the age of 91.
The politician was considered one of the fathers of German unity and a pioneer for the end of the Cold War.
While he is honored in the West, in Russia he is for many the unloved gravedigger of the Soviet empire.
Is Scholz traveling to Russia?
Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that there must be a memorial event in Russia.
"I hope that the Russian state will do its former head of state and government the honor it deserves," said the SPD politician after the cabinet meeting at Meseberg Castle north of Berlin.
Scholz was reluctant to participate in a funeral service for the late Nobel Peace Prize winner: "I don't think this is the place or the time to talk about travel."
Scholz had previously said that the former Soviet head of state had dared a lot.
His policies made it possible »that Germany could be united and that the Iron Curtain has disappeared«.
Thanks to Gorbachev, Russia was also able to attempt to establish a democracy.
He died at a time "when not only did democracy in Russia fail," but when Russian President Vladimir Putin was also digging new rifts in Europe.
"That's why we're thinking of Mikhail Gorbachev and know how important he was for the development of Europe and our country in recent years," said Scholz in Meseberg.
til/dpa