During the celebrations in Berlin, "the role of Russia has been once again neglected," said Professor de Waele. "In the perspective of Central European countries, enhancing Gorbachev's role would have diminished their own role," he explained.
According to de Waele, the Western world has produced a distorted image of history by focusing solely on the night of 9-10 November 1989. "We are writing history with only one date, whereas [the history of change in Central Europe] is a long process," he lamented. "The Berlin Wall's fall is just one domino among others," he said.
De Waele was quick to highlight Gorbachev's role. "He is probably the most important person," he said, drawing attention to the changes he brought about in the international climate. "If there had been Cold War tensions, nothing of what occurred in the East of Europe would have happened."
Politically, Gorbachev "opened doors slightly and created a huge flow of air which people have inhaled," de Waele explained.
Moreover, most conservative Central European leaders like Gustav Husak (Czechoslovakia), Erich Honecker (East Germany) or Nicolae Ceauşescu (Romania) did not backed Gorbachev's reform. "It weakened the regimes," de Waele said. When East Germans were crying 'Gorby' in the streets, "they were endorsing the reforms," he explained.
The KGB and the Soviet army, meanwhile, did not attempt to block Gorbachev's reform programme as, until Boris Yeltsin's coup d’état, they thought he was reforming the system. "Leftist elites in Europe and in the USSR thought Central Europe would become a kind of neutral zone between Russia and the European Union," de Waele explained.
To read the interview in full, please click here (French only).
