1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt attempt. Since assuming power as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, Gorbachev had embarked on an ambitious program of reform, embodied in the twin concepts of "perestroika" and "glasnost", meaning economic/political restructuring and openness, respectively. These moves prompted resistance and suspicion on the part of hardline members of the "nomenklatura". The reforms also unleashed some forces and movements that Gorbachev did not expect. Specifically, nationalist agitation on the part of the Soviet Union's non-Russian minorities grew, and there were fears that some or all of the union republics might secede. In 1991, the Soviet
European Union disability policy the year 2003 as the "European Year of People with Disabilities." Following the success of this event, the European Commission introduced the "Equal opportunities for people with disabilities: a European action plan for the years 2004-2010". It aimed to develop a sustainable-operational approach to the case for the disabled in the extended Europe, finding out and protecting the rights of the disabled. European Union disability policy The European Union policy for disabled people guarantees governmental responsibility for all disabled people in all of EU's member states. This policy operates in the framework of the subsidiarity principle: if possible, one should