The death of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher turned out to be top news across the world. Facebook is literally flooded with comments mentioning the “Iron Lady.” Politicians of the world level keep sending their condolences on occasion of Baroness Thatcher’s death. In particular, yesterday, Pope Francis noted with sympathy in a telegram: “I recall with appreciation the Christian values which underpinned her commitment to public service and to the promotion of freedom among the family of nations.”
Politicians also continue assessing Thatcher’s activity. The British Prime Minister, leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron called Thatcher “the patriot prime minister and the most outstanding leader of the country during the peaceful time.” Cameron acknowledged there were different opinions on her personality, but he emphasized that she came to power when the country was on its knees, and helped it stand tall again. “Margaret Thatcher loved her country and dedicated her life to serving it. For this she justly deserves a place in history and will be forever remembered and honored by the British people,” noted the British prime minister.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister William Hague wrote in his Twitter: “She changed our country forever and all of us owe so much to her.” The leader of the Labor Party Ed Miliband agrees to this. He called Thatcher “a unique figure, who changed the political life of the whole generation.” He admitted that the Labor Party did not agree to the majority of her politics, and there always would be different points of view on her role. “We can disagree with her, but we will always respect her political achievements and the power of her personality,” Miliband stressed. London’s mayor, conservative politician Boris Johnson is convinced that “her memory will live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today’s politics.”
When the president of the United States Barack Obama learned about Thatcher’s death, he said that “the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend.” “A shopkeeper’s daughter, who became the Great Britain’s first prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. When being a prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best,” says the official statement of the US president.
German chancellor Angela Merkel described Thatcher as an “outstanding leader.” “I will never forget the part she played in reuniting Europe and ending the Cold War,” Merkel emphasized. The prime minister of India Manmohan Singh called Thatcher a “transformative figure, under whom the UK registered important progress in national and international arenas.”
The president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych also expressed condolences in relation to the death of the former British prime minister. “She was the leader of a European country’s government, she became an example of willpower, fidelity to principle, and character strength for many generations. I am sure that the name of Margaret Thatcher will forever remain in history as an example of self-sacrificing service to one’s own people,” reads the official statement of the Ukrainian president.
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin admitted that Thatcher always impressed him deeply and was a pragmatic and strict politician. “It was this specific approach of hers that helped the UK get out of the economic crisis once. It is well known that she was criticized for some measures implemented back then, including the axing of benefits, budget spending, and limitation of trade unions’ rights. But her actions proved to be effective in a critical situation. People are endlessly grateful to her for that,” said Putin during a press conference in Netherlands.
It was announced yesterday that the funeral will take place on Wednesday. By the way, a ceremony with military honors will be organized to honor Baroness Thatcher. The prime minister’s office also noted that the scale of mourning events will be about the same as state funerals organized for the members of the royal family. The only exception from this rule was Winston Churchill’s state funeral in 1965. By the way, funerals of Princess Diana (1997) and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (2002) also had the official ceremonial status.
The Embassy of Great Britain told The Day that the condolence book is available at the Embassy’s reception room from April 10 to 12.
The death of an outstanding politician is always a reason to reconsider their activity and role. In case of Thatcher, who herself was the cause of events and went against the stream, this is an opportunity for other politicians and public figures to learn from the prominent British politician, who won parliamentary elections three times in a row. The Day offers its readers a publication from the Project Syndicate “Margaret Thatcher’s Lessons for Europe,” and comments of Ukrainian politicians and diplomats on what lessons should be learned from the “Iron Lady” by Ukrainian politicians who really want to implement some changes in the country.
COMMENTARIES
IF OUR POLITICIANS THOUGHT OF UKRAINE AS MUCH AS THATCHER DID OF GREAT BRITAIN, THEY WOULD FIND COMPROMISES
Leonid KRAVCHUK, first president of Ukraine:
“Margaret Thatcher’s life and career should be comparable to that of Churchill, even if the latter worked under more extreme conditions. Her time in power was a period of reform in Great Britain. I remember the Soviet press wrote that Thatcher’s reforms reflected the interests of the big capital, at the expense of the working class. This is what Mr. Symonenko says about Ukrainian reforms now. This bolshevist formula survives epochs.
“The media also wrote about the huge, hard rallies, which became a true test for Margaret Thatcher. However, she was able to live up to the challenge and showed that reforms do not come easy, and it takes will power, strength and a clear goal to implement them. If our parties in power and in the opposition stood on the same grounds as Margaret Thatcher, we would be doing much better. Thatcher’s example of governance is a paragon for many countries. Her work should be considered on the same scale as that of the world’s greatest leaders.
“In Soviet time Margaret Thatcher visited Moscow and chose Kyiv as one of the destinations of her tour of the country. I was present during her speech in the Verkhovna Rada. She spoke very powerfully, convincingly, and knowingly. I remembered most of phrase: that the perestroika would be a different, decorative lifestyle, but it will bring fruit only when supported by the entire nation, not only by the Communist Party. Thatcher’s attitude was that of discipline, organization, responsibility, and also democracy and right.
“It should be mentioned that Margaret Thatcher, like all her outstanding predecessors, followed one famous British formula: ‘We have no enemies, we have interests.’ Great Britain is the most precious, highest priority for its leaders. And if our leaders thought the same of Ukraine, it would be possible to find various formulas for cooperation between government and the opposition. If one force says that reconciliation is impossible, it means that it is not mature enough for political activity and statesmanship, and defends corporate interests. For instance, in 1990 the parliament was made up by communists and former prisoners of conscience, but they all found mutual understanding when it came to our country’s independence and its interests. All problems can be solved if there is a goal and love of one’s land, culture, language, and traditions. Fostering hate between people will let you win a few elections, but you will lose the country as a result. You cannot run a state surrounded by enemies, the result of ignorant leadership. Unfortunately, no one is even trying to stop the bacchanalia of hate-mongering. Ukraine cannot develop on such political and ideological grounds.
“All in all, speaking of Margaret Thatcher’s career, I come to realize how far from these standards is our political culture and our politicians, who used democracy and freedom to grab power, or were brought to power by sheer chance, but who never serve the interests of Ukraine.”
I DON’T FEEL THAT THERE ARE LEADERS OF MARGARET THATCHER’S CALIBER NOW
Serhii KOMISARENKO, Ukrainian scholar, statesman and political figure, former ambassador of Ukraine to Great Britain (1992-97):
“Margaret Thatcher has played a huge role in the world she was living in. It is hard to tell whether her role would be similarly important today. The circumstances and situation in the world have changed. Incidentally, I don’t feel there are leaders of Margaret Thatcher’s caliber now.
“Of course, Thatcher was a bright personality. She was very intelligent, she obtained quality education. She had taken many offices, which helped her. Back in the Oxford University she decided on her political direction. It seems to me, Thatcher was the first Conservator female leader among students. She in a flash started to prepare for political career, and she made a brilliant career, but unfortunately it did not finish so brilliantly.
“The fact that Thatcher became a prime minister reflects the trends in British society. After the war the role of women grew, as a result many women became leaders in various spheres of civic and political life of Great Britain.
“Various deeds of Margaret Thatcher can be recalled. She embodied will and discipline, self-organization and self-education. One can recall the interview she gave to Soviet central television in 1987. The best TV anchors of that time were invited to the interview. I don’t know whether they were tasked to or whether it was their own decision, but they wanted to show they could convince Thatcher in something and that they knew the material considerably better than she. She was the only woman present at that interview and she showed how awkwardly they were taking it and how bad their logic of interviewing was, as well as their knowledge of the material they were discussing. She was brilliant in this interview.
“Margaret Thatcher also showed her character in the Falklands War. Her actions considerably raised her authority in Great Britain and made it possible for her to stay in office till 1990.
“Although her closest ally was Ronald Reagan, like the US was the closest ally for Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher refused to sail completely in the wake of the United States. For example, when Reagan implemented economic sanctions for the Soviet Union after the war state was announced in Poland, Thatcher stood against this selective implementation of sanctions. The reason was that the US continued to trade grain with the USSR, whereas Britain was suffering losses because the well-known big Scottish company John Brown Engineering could not supply its big-diameter tubes and turbines to the USSR anymore.
“Margaret Thatcher insisted that her policies should be democratic and transparent. However, among the members of her Cabinet she was known for her authoritarianism and made Cabinet rotations in a dictator’s manner typical of her. At the same time Thatcher insisted on personal responsibility of the members of Cabinet of Ministers. She demanded the same from other officials. She spoke much of democracy, but interpreted it in her own way.”
SHE BROKE THE ESTABLISHED STEREOTYPES
Volodymyr KHANDOHII, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
“I cannot but agree with incumbent Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron, who rightly considers himself a political successor of Thatcher. Commemorating her, the head of British government underlined that Margaret Thatcher will go down in history of Great Britain as the most outstanding prime minister of peaceful time.
“In the time of her premiership the most ambitious in the entire history of Great Britain program of economic reform was carried out – privatization of powerful state companies, regulation of influential trade unions’ activity, reform in the sphere of social security and construction, liberalization of the tax system and domestic market, laying the fundamentals for successful work of the world financial center currently known as London City. Does not this list remind us of the tasks Ukraine badly needs to realize?
“The Iron Lady played an outstanding role of intermediary between the USSR and the US in their dialogue on keeping peace and stability. At the same time, Margaret Thatcher, who maintained friendly relations with Mikhail Gorbachev, was extremely careful about the new geopolitical reality – the appearance on the world map of young independent states like Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and other post-Soviet republics.
“Today Ukraine is unceasingly following the European course that demands thorough modernization and systemic transformations. The path of Great Britain to EU membership was thorny either. Thatcher was taking a harsh policy concerning European problems, at the same time she was consistent in her defending of Great Britain’s national interests. In spite of Iron Lady’s image as the most inconvenient partner of the then leaders of European Economic Community, namely in the time of her premiership the European vector of the foreign policy of the United Kingdom became inevitable.
“A leader of the Tory party, known for its adherence to pragmatic traditional approaches in politics and economy, Margaret Thatcher was a real revolutionary among British Conservators. Owing to her ability to work, persistence and leader’s qualities, a shopkeeper’s daughter became the first woman to head a West European government. She broke the established stereotypes of that time, modernizing the economy of her country and reforming the party she headed, changing not only British, but also the world policy according to her own vision.”
