{Eastern Europe}[12th December 1989]

[Redbook6:359][19891215:1215b]{Eastern Europe}[12th December 1989]

19891215.1003

[continued]

In all the wonderful, tear-releasing news from Eastern Europe during the last few months, two little items brought a chill: David Owen* on ‘Question Time’** last night saying that Gorbachev’s perestroika would (not ‘might’) fail, and Russia would return to an authoritarian and inward-looking government;*** and the news this morning that Andrei Sakharov, who suffered from a heart condition – and whom I had seen on television a couple of evenings back (I think) attacking Gorbachev in the Parliament for not ending the Communist Party’s monopoly of power – had unexpectedly died last night. The last is particularly disturbing.****

*[Former United Kingdom Foreign Secretary]

**BBC1 [TV]

***{The fall of the Romanian tyranny makes this less likely.... Sometimes I wonder whether Gorbachev is waiting for the mass demonstrations, despite his statements.}

[But of course Owen was right. <20200803>]

****{But in fact it turns out that he had been ill for some time.}

[cf [Redbook7:41][19900207:1409]{Conservative Russia}[7th February 1990]]

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