Long before his death, Gorbachev, who died aged 91, organized his funeral. He is buried in Moscow’s famous celebrity cemetery at Novodevichy Convent (Novodevichy Cemetery), where he secured a grave next to his wife, Raisa Gorbacheva, who died in 1999. However, it is unclear which international guests will attend the funeral in Moscow. – in view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the EU and US sanctions against the country.
Not only were many high-ranking EU politicians banned from entering the country from the Russian side as a reaction to Western sanctions. Airspace in Russia is also blocked to “hostile EU countries”. Many Western politicians also actively avoid contact with Russia.
Mikhail Gorbachev is dead
Nobel Peace Prize winner and last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, died overnight at the age of 91, Moscow’s central hospital said. Gorbachev is considered to have paved the way for the end of the Cold War.
international importance
In view of Gorbachev’s historic and international importance to the course of world history, guests from abroad may also want to say goodbye. This is likely to become a bigger problem in Germany, among other places, because Gorbachev is considered one of the pioneers of German unity. His policies made it possible “that Germany could be united and the Iron Curtain disappear,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
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Worldwide Mourning for Mikhail Gorbachev
He “expects the Russian state to honor its former head of state and government as it deserves.” He left open whether Scholz could travel to Russia himself. “I don’t think this is the place or time to talk about travel,” Scholz said after a cabinet meeting near Berlin. Dieter Bartsch, head of the left-wing parliamentary group, called for a celebratory event in Germany. He suggested a ceremony at the Bundestag.
No decision on state funeral
As of Wednesday, there was no decision on whether there should be a state funeral for Gorbachev, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. It also depends on the wishes of family and friends. In his homeland, Gorbachev was always controversial, he was considered by much of the Russian public as the “gravedigger of the Soviet Union”.
APA/AFP/Kirill Kudryavtsev Gorbachev to be buried in the well-known Novodevichy Cemetery
Glasnost and Perestroika
Gorbachev died in Moscow on Tuesday night, aged 91, after a long illness. He was the last general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (transformation). This brought unprecedented freedoms to the people in the totalitarian system of the USSR.
TV notice
ORF2 shows in memory of Mikhail Gorbachev on Wednesday at 22:30 “Mikhail Gorbachev – the transformer of the world”.
He has also campaigned for relaxation with the West through disarmament talks with the United States, among other things. The political process eventually led to the collapse of the USSR, which was sealed with his resignation as Soviet president in 1991. In 1990, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his courageous reforms.
Until his death, Gorbachev tended to his own political foundation in Moscow. The organization defends democratic values and a rapprochement between Russia and the West. He has also written several books and also co-owned the Kremlin-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which repeatedly reveals abuses in Russia.