Gorbachev receives Russia's top medal
Source: Agencies |
March 3, 2011, Thursday
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MIKHAIL Gorbachev was awarded Russia's highest medal on his 80th birthday yesterday, a belated tribute from the homeland where many blame him for the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Gorbachev during a meeting he would be awarded the Order of St Andrew for his service as the last Soviet leader. Medvedev said leading the Soviet Union during a "very complex, dramatic period" was a tough job.
"It can be assessed differently, but it was a heavy load," Medvedev said, adding that he will invite Gorbachev to the Kremlin to give him the award.
Gorbachev has been revered in the West for his liberal reforms that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, but he has been reviled at home, where many hold him responsible for the breakup of the Soviet Union and the ensuing economic meltdown that cost many most of their lifetime savings.
His bitter rival, the late Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president, treated Gorbachev in a humiliating way, giving him just a few hours to pack up after he resigned as the Soviet president on Christmas Day 1991.
Gorbachev attended Yeltsin's funeral in 2007 in a gesture of reconciliation, but has remained scathingly critical of Yeltsin's legacy.
Gorbachev has started getting some recognition as an elderly statesman, including a large photo exhibition on his years in power in a prestigious hall just outside the Kremlin. But it wasn't until yesterday that he received a top award from the state.
Gorbachev has become increasingly critical of Russia's current leaders - especially Prime Minister Vladimir Putin - saying they have rolled the country back to the old Soviet ways.
He has described Russia as an "imitation" democracy, where both parliament and the courts lack necessary independence from the government and the main pro-Kremlin party is a "bad copy" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev also has harshly criticized Medvedev and Putin for saying they will decide who should run for president in Russia's March 2012 presidential vote. He described the statements as a show of conceit and disrespect for Russian voters.
Both leaders have ignored the criticism. Putin, who was president from 2000 to 2008, has deplored the collapse of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century."
Still, Putin congratulated Gorbachev in a telegram yesterday, praising him as "one of the great statesmen of modern times."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Gorbachev during a meeting he would be awarded the Order of St Andrew for his service as the last Soviet leader. Medvedev said leading the Soviet Union during a "very complex, dramatic period" was a tough job.
"It can be assessed differently, but it was a heavy load," Medvedev said, adding that he will invite Gorbachev to the Kremlin to give him the award.
Gorbachev has been revered in the West for his liberal reforms that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, but he has been reviled at home, where many hold him responsible for the breakup of the Soviet Union and the ensuing economic meltdown that cost many most of their lifetime savings.
His bitter rival, the late Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president, treated Gorbachev in a humiliating way, giving him just a few hours to pack up after he resigned as the Soviet president on Christmas Day 1991.
Gorbachev attended Yeltsin's funeral in 2007 in a gesture of reconciliation, but has remained scathingly critical of Yeltsin's legacy.
Gorbachev has started getting some recognition as an elderly statesman, including a large photo exhibition on his years in power in a prestigious hall just outside the Kremlin. But it wasn't until yesterday that he received a top award from the state.
Gorbachev has become increasingly critical of Russia's current leaders - especially Prime Minister Vladimir Putin - saying they have rolled the country back to the old Soviet ways.
He has described Russia as an "imitation" democracy, where both parliament and the courts lack necessary independence from the government and the main pro-Kremlin party is a "bad copy" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev also has harshly criticized Medvedev and Putin for saying they will decide who should run for president in Russia's March 2012 presidential vote. He described the statements as a show of conceit and disrespect for Russian voters.
Both leaders have ignored the criticism. Putin, who was president from 2000 to 2008, has deplored the collapse of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century."
Still, Putin congratulated Gorbachev in a telegram yesterday, praising him as "one of the great statesmen of modern times."
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