Eduard Shevardnadze, who helped Gorbachev end Cold War, dies

Eduard Shevardnadze, who helped Gorbachev end Cold War, dies. 53108.jpeg

Former president of Georgia and former Foreign Minister of the USSR, Eduard Shevardnadze, died on July 6th. He was 87, ITAR-TASS reports.

Eduard Shevardnadze was born on January 25, 1928 in the village of Mamati, the Georgian SSR. His diplomatic career began during the perestroika period. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev offered Shevardnadze the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. The Cold War between the USA and the USSR ended during Shevardnadze's stay in the office. The relations between Moscow and Washington normalized, the Kremlin agreed to the unification of Germany, and the Warsaw Pact disintegrated. Shevardnadze became one of Mikhail Gorbachev's companions in the policy of perestroika and glasnost. In 1985-1990б Shevardnadze served as a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

In October 1992, as a result of parliamentary elections, he became the head of Georgia, the chairman of the country's parliament.

On November 5, 1995, most of the population of Georgia elected Shevardnadze as President. On April 9, 2000, he won the presidential election again, having received the support of 80 percent of citizens.

After his resignation as president on November 23, 2003, Shevardnadze was living in his mansion in Tbilisi. He criticized the policies of President Mikheil Saakashvili. In 2011-2012, he actively supported the activities of the "Georgian Dream" coalition that won the parliamentary elections in October 1, 2012 and has since become the country's ruling political force.