The last head of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, has died at the age of 91. Gorbachev’s policy of détente led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was considered a disaster by the current Russian leadership.
The European researchers who visited in the morning commented on the recent news Mikhail Gorbachev significance for Europe and modern Russia.
Program director of the Foreign Policy Institute Juha Jokela notes that Gorbachev is particularly remembered for his détente with the West. The détente led to the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Eastern Europe.
– That’s probably the central memory. For those of us born in the early 70s, these memories are probably still quite vivid in our minds, says Jokela.
Gorbachev’s reform policy increased citizens’ freedoms and contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The current president of Russia Vladimir Putin considers the collapse of the Soviet Union a major geopolitical disaster.
– Because of that, Gorbachev’s reputation in today’s Russia is considerably more contradictory. I think that there will still be a struggle over his legacy, or it will be a tool of political struggle in the future, believes the academy researcher Timo Miettinen from the University of Helsinki.
The actual topic of the discussion was the meeting of EU foreign ministers.