EU and Nato praise Yeltsin

The European Union and the Nato alliance hailed Boris Yeltsin today as a healer of the Cold War divide who opened up Russia to the rest of Europe.

The European Union and the Nato alliance hailed Boris Yeltsin today as a healer of the Cold War divide who opened up Russia to the rest of Europe.

"We were very sad to hear the news of the death" of the former Russian leader, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters after chairing an EU foreign ministers meeting.

Speaking on the EU's behalf, he said Yeltsin was Russia's leader "for eight decisive years. President Yeltsin looked to Europe and opened up Russia to Europe".

In Brussels, Belgium, Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, called Yeltsin "a key reference in the post-Communist transition in Russia. As President he had enormous challenges and difficult mandates, but he certainly brought East and West closer together and helped replace confrontation by cooperation".

Barroso added in his statement that Yeltsin will be "best remembered when standing up to the coup d'état aimed at restoring a dictatorial regime in Russia. With great personal courage he had merit in defending freedom".

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the secretary general of the Nato alliance - which for decades faced the Soviet military threat against Western Europe and North America - hailed Yeltsin's courage.

"President Yeltsin will be remembered for his courage in charting a new, democratic course for his country. He was also at the forefront of the effort to overcome the legacy of the Cold War by forging a new relationship between Russia and the North Atlantic alliance," De Hoop Scheffer said in his statement.

"This historic effort to set aside the fears and stereotypes of the past in favour of cooperation in facing the challenges of the future, enshrined in the NATO-Russia Founding Act that bears President Yeltsin's signature, continues to this day," he added.

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