(Ottawa) Former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney says Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was a “great man” whom the world stage will “deeply miss”.
Posted at 6:29
Mr. Gorbachev, who during his seven years in power made dramatic reforms that paved the way for the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, died Tuesday in a Moscow hospital at the age of 91.
Former Prime Minister Mulroney said in an interview that while US President Ronald Reagan is widely credited with ending the Cold War without firing a shot, “it takes two to tango”, and that Mr. Gorbachev was an indispensable leader on the other side.
“President Gorbachev will go down in history as an iconic leader and one who has done a lot for humanity,” he said.
The former head of government of Canada says he first met Mr. Gorbachev in March 1985 and found him a breath of fresh air compared to the “stuffy, dull, unvisionary” Soviet leaders to whom he was used to it.
“He was quite charming and direct, alert, and you could tell then that he wanted to do business,” according to Mr. Mulroney.
He remembers meeting President Reagan a few days later in Quebec and telling him that he expected Mikhail Gorbachev to be an excellent interlocutor.
“I said, ‘You know, Ron, there’s a new player here. He’s definitely a guy we’re going to be able to get along with and get things done.” »
President Gorbachev’s approach to diplomacy contrasted sharply with the “poor belligerent leadership you see in Moscow today,” according to Brian Mulroney. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “exactly the antithesis of what Gorbachev wanted”.
In 1990, President Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War and easing nuclear tensions, but he faced ridicule at home when the Soviet Union collapsed.
His power sapped by an attempted coup against him in August 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev spent his final months in power watching one republic after another declare independence, until he resigned on December 25. 1991, and the Soviet Union was written into oblivion a day later.
At the end of his reign, he was powerless to stop the whirlwind he had sown. Yet Mikhail Gorbachev may have had a greater impact on the second half of the 20th century than any other political figure.
“I see myself as a man who launched the necessary reforms for the country, for Europe and for the world,” Mikhail Gorbachev told the Associated Press in a 1992 interview shortly after he left its functions.
“I am often asked, would I have started all over again if I had to do it all over again? Yes indeed. And with more perseverance and determination,” he said.
His run for the presidency in 1996 was a national joke in Russia; he won less than 1% of the vote. In 1997, he resorted to directing a TV commercial for Pizza Hut to raise money for his charitable foundation.
But he was hailed outside of Russia and Brian Mulroney said they deepened their friendship. In recent years, they have met in Houston, New York or Montreal.
“I liked him a lot personally. We had a wonderful personal relationship,” he said. “I witnessed the fabulous relationship he had with his wife and family. He was, in my opinion, a great man. »