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Friedrich Merz at the state party conference of the CDU Lower Saxony
Photo: Markus Hibbeler / dpa
Should there be a state funeral for the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia, the German head of state should travel there according to the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz.
"In any case, I would recommend that the heads of state and government on the European side accept an invitation if it is given," Merz told the television station Bild TV.
Germany should "seize the opportunity" "to make such a visit," Merz continued.
According to the CDU politician, a Russian state funeral for Gorbachev is appropriate.
He described Gorbachev as "a stroke of luck for the Federal Republic of Germany."
Gorbachev died on Tuesday evening at the age of 91.
The world-renowned politician was considered one of the fathers of German unity and a pioneer for the end of the Cold War.
In the 1980s, under Gorbachev's leadership, the Soviet Union signed groundbreaking treaties on nuclear disarmament and arms control 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.
»The world would look different«
Gorbachev is to be buried in Moscow on Saturday.
According to the Interfax news agency, Gorbachev's daughter Irina announced that the »House of Trade Unions« with its columned hall near the Kremlin had been approved for the funeral service.
However, she could not say whether there will be a state funeral.
Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) had called for a memorial event in the Bundestag in honor of Gorbachev in SPIEGEL.
"Our country owes a lot to Mikhail Gorbachev," she said.
»I support his contribution to peace and reunification being recognized in the German Bundestag.«
Merz told Bild TV with a view to the current political situation and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine: "Let's imagine for a moment that we had a man like Gorbachev as President in Russia today.
The world would look different.” Merz said he was certain that there would be no war then.
kko/dpa