What a great time to be in a political center such as Strasbourg! Among the many institutions and visits that we have had so far, Europe and the world are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I may only have been 7 years old when the wall fell, but I do remember seeing it everywhere on the news. I remember my parents glued to the TV as the news showed the infamous footage of people hammering and finally helping to bring the physical wall to the ground on that fateful autumn night. Soon another extremely important event would follow; the fall of the USSR, and the course of history would forever be changed. Among the many key leaders who were essential in the workings of this time was the President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. Many Americans would probably remember the famous line delivered in 1987 by then President Ronald Regan declaring “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
I tried to contain my excitement in this photo.
The Council of Europe is celebrating both the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 60th anniversary of the council by holding a series of talks entitled “Dialogues de Strasbourg.” Along with the City of Strasbourg, the dialogues are designed to include the citizens of the city in discussions about critical topics such as democracy and human rights, and the future of Europe as a whole. This past Friday was the kick off to these dialogues and the first guest of honor was none other than Mikhail Gorbachev himself. I had only heard about his upcoming visit a couple of days before, yet as a grad student in political science who concentrates on Eastern Europe, I was NOT about to miss it! Not even an extremely persistent cold was going to stop me! That morning, I jumped out of bed early, ran down to breakfast, ran back upstairs to change, and was ready to go two and a half hours before the event started (an extremely rare occurrence for me in the morning). I was beside myself with excitement about this rare opportunity to see such an important man in person!
Mr. Gorbachev himself speaking to the audience.
The event was fascinating! Mr. Gorbachev opened the dialogues with a well-thought out speech and then sat down to have a more intimate talk with his audience. The press in the front asked most of the questions, but the floor was opened up to the rest of the audience (mainly students). I really, really, really wanted the chance to ask a question to a former leader of the Soviet Union, yet because of time constraints only two students had the chance to ask a question. Mr. Gorbachev seemed to be a little scattered when answering his questions, going off in tangents and in the end never really answered anything. A lot of what he said particularly about Russia today was nothing new, yet he continued to stress the importance of dialogue between European countries and the need to cooperate in order to address and face problems concerning the world today.
All in all, say what you will about him, it was absolutely amazing having the opportunity to see the Former President of the Soviet Union in such a small and intimate setting! Never in my life would I think to have the opportunity to witness such an event, and it’s all because of being in the right place at the right time! Indeed my time in Strasbourg is proving to be more valuable than I could have ever imagined!
Here is one of the videos I took of Gorbachev making his opening speech (he is speaking in Russian. Sorry!):
In this clip, he made a joke about good lectures not being able to happen without water (the hostess runs off and puts a glass under his podium), and if you listen carefully you can hear my pathetic congested laugh in the background (I tried so hard not to cough so much during this thing!). The audience shares a delayed laugh because they were listening to the translation.
I can’t wait to see what’s next in this amazing city!
Posted by Veronica Armendariz
Link to Gorbachev’s speech delivered at the Council of Europe on Oct. 1st: http://www.coe.int/t/dc/press/news/20091001_disc_gorbatchev_en.asp
