– Mikhail Gorbachev died this evening after being seriously ill for a long time, writes the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital in a statement on Tuesday evening. The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, died after a long illness and was 91 years old, reports Russian news agencies, including Tass. Condolences from Biden and Putin – Mikhail Gorbachev was a man with sensational visions, US President Joe Biden writes in a statement about the former Soviet leader’s death. Biden further praises Gorbachev’s efforts to stop the arms race with the West and to provide the Russians with democratic reforms. The American president also boasts that Gorbachev risked his entire career to create a better future. – The result was a safer world and greater freedom for millions of people, writes Biden. He sends his deepest condolences to Gorbachev’s family and friends. Russian President Vladimir Putin also offers his deepest condolences after Gorbachev’s death. He does so through his spokesman in the Kremlin on Tuesday evening, reports Reuters. CONDOLENCES: Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Gorbachev at a meeting in Germany in 2004. Later, the former president has been more critical of Putin’s political leadership. Photo: Carsten Rehder / AP – Mikhail Gorbachev changed the world – Mikhail Gorbachev changed the world. He opened up the possibilities for relaxation and a completely new world order. We must continue working for a world characterized more by constructive cooperation than by contradictions and conflict, writes Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) to news. – Mikhail Gorbachev contributed to a more integrated world and a better relationship between East and West, says Conservative leader and former prime minister Erna Solberg to NTB. – Even if the current Putin government in Russia is unfortunately taking us in a completely wrong direction, Gorbachev’s contribution to a more integrated world and a better relationship between East and West will forever have meant an infinite amount to millions of people, says Solberg. ON VISIT: Several Norwegian politicians met Mikhail Gorbachev while he was president of the Soviet Union and general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. Here he is on the roof of the Government Building with Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1991. Photo: Morten Hvaal / NTB European reactions European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also offers condolences. On Twitter, she writes that Gorbachev was a respected leader. – He played a decisive role in ending the Cold War and tearing down the Iron Curtain. It opened the way for a free Europe, she writes and concludes: – This legacy will not be forgotten. French President Emmanuel Macron writes on Twitter that Mikhail Gorbachev was a man of peace who opened a path to freedom for the Russians. – His efforts for peace in Europe changed our common history, writes Macron. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson writes on Twitter that it is sad to hear that Gorbachev is gone. – I have always admired the courage and integrity he showed when he ensured that the Cold War came to a peaceful end, writes Johnson. – In the era of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless efforts to open up Soviet society are still an example for us all, he writes. American reactions The foundations of the two late US presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush pay tribute to Gorbachev, and express grief over his death. Both Republican presidents had a lot of contact with Gorbachev at the end of the Cold War. Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan in cheerful conversation on December 8, 1987, when Gorbachev visited the White House in Washington DC for a meeting between the two superpowers at the time. Photo: Boris Yurchenko / AP The Reagan Foundation and Institute writes on Twitter that Gorbachev was a political opponent who ended up being a friend of Reagan. – President Bush often said that President Gorbachev stuck his head out at a critical point in history to ensure world peace, writes the George and Barbara Bush Foundation on Twitter. Ending the Cold War Gorbachev is best known as the political leader who brought about the fall of the Soviet Union and thus helped end the Cold War. POPULAR ABROAD: Mikhail Gorbachev with his wife Raisa in Paris 1989. He became very popular in the West because he was a completely new type of Soviet leader, much younger and more dynamic than his predecessors. And more conciliatory towards the rest of the world. Photo: Laurent Rebours / AP The Communist Soviet Union (USSR) was established by the Bolsheviks on December 30, 1922 and dissolved on December 26, 1991. But the USSR with its Soviet economy stagnated more and more. Gorbachev tried to create a more open, better organized and well-run society, but with his perestroika and glasnost (renewal and openness) unleashed forces that could not be stopped. It ended with the union collapsing and him having to relinquish power. TIME IS RUNNING OUT: President Mikhail Gorbachev looks at his watch before delivering his farewell speech in the Kremlin on December 25. Photo: Liu Heung Shing / AP After his resignation, Gorbachev kept a low political profile. He made an attempt at a political comeback in the 1996 presidential election, but received only 0.5 percent of the vote. In the 2000s, Gorbachev distinguished himself as a critic of Vladimir Putin and US foreign policy. He also engaged in consulting activities. Nobel Peace Prize The year before the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. – He had enormous importance in ending the Cold War, says Nupi researcher and Russia expert Julie Wilhelmsen to NTB. In OSLO 1991: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1990 to President Mikhail Gorbachev, who was unable to receive it then. He came the following year to give his Nobel lecture in Oslo City Hall. Photo: Tor Richardsen / NTB – His personal desire to use the power he brought to disarm, and to take the first step himself, before the US and then-President Ronald Reagan would respond, was absolutely decisive, she believes. – One can often wonder how important a person can be in world politics, but in this particular case I am convinced that his vision was incredibly important, says Wilhelmsen. Warning against nuclear weapons Russia is one of the world’s most powerful nuclear weapons powers today. – As long as weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons exist, we face a colossal threat, Gorbachev told the BBC in 2019. – Therefore, all nuclear weapons should be destroyed, said the former president and Communist Party leader 30 years after his own policies led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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Mikhail Gorbachev is dead – praised by world leaders – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
