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Berlin to fly flags at half-mast for Gorbachev’s funeral

The German capital on Thursday ordered official flags to be lowered to half-mast during Mikhail Gorbachev's weekend funeral as calls grew for a fitting tribute to the last Soviet leader.

Published: 1 September 2022 16:06 CEST

Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in summer. The capital will lower flags for Mikhail Gorbachev's weekend funeral. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau

“We want to appropriately honour the accomplishments of our honorary citizen Mikhail Gorbachev in bringing about the political transformation of (communist) East Germany,” Berlin’s interior minister Iris Spranger said in a statement.

Announcing the ceremonial flagging for Saturday, Spranger said Germany also owed an enduring debt to Gorbachev for allowing its reunification after the Cold War.

Officials from across the political spectrum expressed their gratitude to Gorbachev, with some calling for a street or square in Berlin to be renamed for him.

Appeals grew for a memorial ceremony in Germany to honour a man credited with allowing a peaceful end to the Cold War and paving the way for democracy to sweep through central and eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall’s fall.

“Germany has a lot to thank him for, he is one of the fathers of reunification and gave millions of people their freedom,” Markus Söder, the conservative premier of southern Bavaria state, told the daily Münchener Merkur.

Veteran far-left MP Gregor Gysi hailed Gorbachev’s contribution to “peace, disarmament and German unity” in an interview with news website Der Spiegel.

He called for a commemoration that would “point up the difference” between Gorbachev and the current Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Gysi said such a gesture would ensure that “the strong criticism of Putin doesn’t lead to rejection of Russia as a whole” in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

While the changes Gorbachev set in motion saw him lionised in the West and Germany in particular, they earned him the scorn of many Russians after the country was plunged into economic chaos and saw its international influence decline.

Gorbachev’s funeral ceremony will be held on Saturday in the Moscow Hall of Columns, historically used for funeral services of high officials, including Joseph Stalin in 1953.

However, Putin’s spokesman said the president would not attend due to his “work schedule”.

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Output is expected to expand 0.3 percent this year, the economy ministry said, up from a prediction of 0.2 percent in February.

The slightly rosier picture comes after improvements in key indicators — from factory output to business activity — boosted hopes a recovery may be getting under way.

The German economy shrank slightly last year, hit by soaring inflation, a manufacturing slowdown and weakness in trading partners, and has acted as a major drag on the 20-nation eurozone.

But releasing its latest projections, the economy ministry said in a statement there were growing indications of a “turning point”.

“Signs of an economic upturn have increased significantly, especially in recent weeks,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said at a press conference.

The ministry also cut its forecast for inflation this year to 2.4 percent, from a previous prediction of 2.8 percent, and sees the figure falling below two percent next year.

“The fall in inflation will lead to consumer demand — people have more money in their wallets again, and will spend this money,” said Habeck.

“So purchasing power is increasing, real wages are rising and this will contribute to a domestic economic recovery.”

Energy prices — which surged after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — had also fallen and supply chain woes had eased, he added.

Several months ago there had been expectations of a strong rebound in 2024, with forecasts of growth above one percent, but these were dialled back at the start of the year as the economy continued to languish.

‘Germany has fallen behind’

But improving signs have fuelled hopes the lumbering economy — while not about to break into a sprint — may at least be getting back on its feet.

On Wednesday a closely-watched survey from the Ifo institute showed business sentiment rising for a third consecutive month in April, and more strongly than expected.

A key purchasing managers’ index survey this week showed that business activity in Germany had picked up.

And last week the central bank, the Bundesbank, forecast the economy would expand slightly in the first quarter, dodging a recession, after earlier predicting a contraction.

German Economics Minister Robert Habeck

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) presents the latest economic forecasts at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday, April 24th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler

Despite the economy’s improving prospects, growth of 0.3 percent is still slower than other developed economies and below past rates, and officials fret it is unlikely to pick up fast in the years ahead.

Habeck has repeatedly stressed solutions are needed for deep-rooted problems facing Germany, from an ageing population to labour shortages and a transition towards greener industries that is moving too slowly.

“Germany has fallen behind other countries in terms of competitiveness,” he said. “We still have a lot to do — we have to roll up our sleeves.”

Already facing turbulence from pandemic-related supply chain woes, the German economy’s problems deepened dramatically when Russia invaded Ukraine and slashed supplies of gas, hitting the country’s crucial manufacturers hard.

While the energy shock has faded, continued weakness in trading partners such as China, widespread strikes in recent months and higher eurozone interest rates have all prolonged the pain.

The European Central Bank has signalled it could start cutting borrowing costs in June, which would boost the eurozone.

But Habeck stressed that care was still needed as, despite the expectations of imminent easing, “tight monetary policy has not yet been lifted.”

In addition, disagreements in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party ruling coalition are hindering efforts to reignite growth, critics say.

This week the pro-business FDP party, a coalition partner, faced an angry backlash from Scholz’s SPD when it presented a 12-point plan for an “economic turnaround”, including deep cuts to state benefits.

Christian Lindner, the fiscally hawkish FDP finance minister, welcomed signs of “stabilisation” in the economic forecasts but stressed that projected medium-term growth was “too low to sustainably finance our state”.

“There are no arguments for postponing the economic turnaround,” he added.