“An example of how a single man can influence so much the fate of his country and the whole world.” Andreï Gratchev thus remembers Mikhail Gorbachev, of whom he was adviser and spokesperson in the most delicate moments. Like on the evening of December 25, 1991, when the historic speech that led to the end of the Soviet Union was delivered.
“I was in the office with him while he was preparing the intervention in what were the last hours of his mandate,” recalls the historian and journalist, who has been living in Paris for several years now.
What legacy does the former president of the Soviet Union leave to his country?
“Russia’s 20th century is marked by a before and after Gorbachev. The Bolshevik project of 1917 had brought society, made up of a group of peoples, into an exceptional, unique experience, but by now it had ended in a sort of historical impasse. Gorbachev found an exit door avoiding a civil war. He opened to the prospect of modernization and democratization. This will be the gift left to Russia. Of course, then there is the difference between this design and reality, from which the contrasts in the analysis and in the appreciation of his work by the population come from ».
And to the Western world?
“He made a series of unilateral concessions to receive the outstretched hand of the West. He accepted some conditions set in the context of the reunification of Germany and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in the hope of replacing the logic of the opposing blocs with a collective defense system, but also with the integration of Russia into what he called the “Home European municipality “. All this did not happen because of the Russian attitude and the short-sightedness of Western politicians who have chosen to marginalize Moscow by pushing it towards Asia, perhaps because they are influenced by the Americans. The result is a return of the “Iron Curtain” as we see in these days when the EU is discussing the blocking of visas for Russian citizens ».
How do you judge Putin’s cold reaction to the disappearance of his predecessor?
“It doesn’t surprise me. There is an evident embarrassment, perhaps understandable, on the part of the current power, which owes it everything. If Gorbachev had chosen to remain general secretary of the Communist Party without engaging in such a risky project, the current president would have had no chance of getting to where he is today. On the other hand, however, Putin from a political point of view is committed to totally opposite positions with respect to those thought and suggested by Gorbachev. Therefore we cannot ignore the value of such a historical figure but at the same time we try to reduce the celebrations as much as possible ».
How did Gorbachev feel about the war in Ukraine?
«It had been months since he had made public statements, perhaps due to the physical conditions in which he was now living which obliged him to limit his expenses. However, it is sufficient to re-read the speeches and declarations made at the moment when the Soviet Union exploded, which I also quote in my last book (The day the USSR disappeared, ed). He has issued warnings regarding potential conflicts resulting from the end of the USSR, indicating Crimea or Donbass as “hot spots”. Let us not forget that this crisis was extremely painful for Gorbachev himself, who was half Russian and half Ukrainian on his mother’s side. For him it must have been a political and personal drama ».
So he had somehow warned his country?
“Absolutely! The risk involved the transformation of the symbolic borders between the different Soviet republics into borders between states, with the return of all those centuries-old tensions. The coming to power of the nationalist elites has turned the Soviet Union into a powder keg ».
Speaking of the conflict, how do you see the current situation as a journalist and historian?
«It is always difficult to predict, especially in a situation like this which represents a dangerous mix between a colonial and a civil war. I hope that such absurdity will be stopped by the resistance of Ukrainian society and the awakening of Russian society, which has not yet abandoned those reflexes coming from Perestroika ».
One last question: a personal memory of Gorbachev?
“When he came to Paris with his daughters and granddaughters about twenty years ago, after the disappearance of his wife. While we were walking near the Pompidou Center, we met a homeless man. He was sitting on the ground, immersed in his thoughts of him, but when he saw Gorbachev he jumped to attention and shouted “My president!”. At that point I said to him, “Dear Mikhail Seergevich, if the Parisian homeless people consider you their president it means that he has earned the respect of the most difficult part of this city to control!” ».