Havel at Columbia



This Day in The Velvet Revolution, 1989

November 15, 1989: Gorbachev endorses changes in Eastern Europe

Speaking at a student meeting in Moscow, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev emphasized his support for the 'process of renewal' underway in Eastern European states, stating, "It's time to remember that the modern world does not consist of two mutually exclusive civilizations, but of one common civilization, in which human values and the freedom of choice are supreme." Reports of Gorbachev's statements reach Czechoslovakia through foreign broadcasts.