Translated material
"We are not like you!"
Mikhail Gorbachev defended Russian ideas about democracy from German ones
Mikhail Gorbachev explained to the Europeans why Russia will not have the same democracy as theirs. The ex-president of the USSR shared his thoughts on this matter in Kaliningrad at a meeting of the coordinating committee of the Russian-German forum “St. Petersburg Dialogue”.The forum was created several years ago on the initiative of the leaders of the two countries (Russian President Vladimir Putin and then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder) to establish effective cooperation. Heads of state personally participate in the work of this forum. And Mr. Gorbachev came to Kaliningrad to, together with his German colleague at the forum, Dr. Lothar de Maizières, set the agenda for the next meeting of the St. Petersburg Dialogue. This forum will take place in Wiesbaden in October 2007.
Dr. Lothar de Maizières proposed paying special attention to the democratic and cultural principles that unite Russia and Germany. They talked about this for quite a long time. The Germans did not fail to notice that Russian democracy is not very similar to its Western counterparts. And the bias towards the energy component, they say, does not look good on Russia. In general, German political scientist Alexander Rahr, who is very positively disposed towards the Russian government, added that he would like to foresee where Russia will go after the change of president. “Vladimir Putin is an important political player. And his policies are often not fully understood either in Europe as a whole or in Germany,” explained Mr. Rahr. He recalled the president's recent Munich speech, comparing it with his speech in the Reichstag in 2001. “There is a difference,” the political scientist noted, smiling coldly.
And Mr. Gorbachev had to come to the defense of the country he once led. “In Russia they call me the first German - I am a representative, so to speak, of two peoples. But now I see a slowdown between Russia and Germany; there is no real cooperation. Don’t you really want to participate in the modernization of Russia?” - he asked the participants of the meeting. Having heard in response that, supposedly, in Wiesbaden they would talk about common democratic and cultural values, the ex-president of the USSR objected: “If people have neither housing nor work, then they question these values. And let's not argue that day follows night, and night follows day. This is clear and true.”
According to the ex-president of the USSR, Russia is interested in Europe (and especially Germany) participating in the modernization of its economy. This is precisely what Mr. Gorbachev proposed to focus on. “You say that we have a democracy with specifics. We have energy resources, but you don’t. And we supply all of Europe. So the specificity works well. How does Europe help modernize Russia? You say, in Russia everything will not be the same as yours? So what of this?!” - Gorby, so respected by Europeans, told the audience.
He is confident that none of the existing political systems in the world can lay claim to global dominance. “One expert once said that it would be beneficial for some to make Russia an evil empire for another five or six years. Very sharp and accurate! It also seems to me that someone wants to keep Russia in a semi-stifled state for several more years. But Russia cannot agree with this!” - continued Mikhail Sergeevich. True, he did not say who exactly wants this “semi-suffocation” for Russia and why only for a few years.
Apparently, as an example of how our country should build a dialogue with the West, Mikhail Gorbachev recalled his meeting with US President Ronald Reagan. “I told him then - you are not a prosecutor, I am not an accused. You are not a teacher, and I am not a student. We represent countries. And please keep this in mind in the future. And then he suggested calling each other “you.” Quite recently in Munich, President Vladimir Putin spoke to the West in precisely this tone . And Mikhail Sergeevich considers this absolutely justified: “For us, this speech is completely normal. I have heard what Putin said from him many times. Munich was a good place to tell them directly. The most surprising thing is that later, during a survey, 68% of Germans approved of Putin’s speech,” recalled the ex-president of the USSR.