The West should be “very grateful” to Soviet-era leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former prime minister Tony Abbott says.
“Because he did effectively reform communism out of existence – at least in the old Soviet Union,” Mr Abbott told Sky News Australia host Rowan Dean.Russian news agencies reported late on Tuesday that Gorbachev died aged 91, after a long and serious illness.
Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union and played a pivotal role in ending the Cold War, which ultimately earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.“He then evolved into a kind of social democrat by the time he left office in 1991. “But along the way he did begin the process of dismantling communism and very importantly he began a process which resulted in the countries of Eastern Europe becoming free and independent.”“So, while we have to lament the rise of a new authoritarianism in Russia under the dictate of Putin, by the same token there have been lasting benefits from the Gorbachev era”.
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