Hungary's Orban Pays Final Respects To Gorbachev

A Hungarian delegation led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban attended a public funeral ceremony held for Mikhail Gorbachev on September 3 in Moscow. Thousands of people lined up outside the city's House of the Unions to lay flowers at the open coffin of the last Soviet leader. Although a guard of honor watched over the casket, the event did not have the status of a state funeral. Gorbachev's death was announced on August 30. Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to pay his final respects privately on September 1 with the Kremlin saying his "work schedule" did not allow him to attend the funeral.