French ambassador to attend Gorbachev funeral
However, neither the French foreign minister nor the Elysee Palace have made any statements so far regarding who will represent France at the memorial ceremony for the politician
French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy will be France’s representative at the funeral of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Le Journal du dimanche online edition reported on Friday citing the French foreign ministry.
The weekly noted that since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, many European politicians had been blacklisted and banned from entering Russia. However, neither the French foreign minister nor the Elysee Palace have made any statements so far regarding who will represent France at the memorial ceremony for the politician.
On Wednesday, after the funeral was reported to take place on September 3, French government spokesman Olivier Veran told reporters, “I can’t tell you exactly who will represent France at this ceremony. But France will definitely be represented.”
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed condolences over the death of Gorbachev, calling him a “courageous and sincere reformer.” He also expressed his conviction that the memory of the first president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, should encourage world leaders to solve problems “on the basis of reason and dialogue.”
The first and only president of the USSR died on August 30 at the age of 91. Gorbachev held the highest government post for six years. He proclaimed a new course almost immediately after being elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1985, then headed the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and proposed to establish the post of president and abolish the article of the constitution that enshrined the leading role of the Communist Party in domestic affairs.
Many languages of the world at that time adopted the Russian words “perestroika” and “glasnost.” Gorbachev resigned as president of the USSR on December 25, 1991, the same time the Soviet Union ceased to exist. A memorial service for Gorbachev will be held in Moscow on September 3.
