The social democratic SPD, the Greens and the liberals in the FDP are drastically reducing the privileges of Germany's former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The SPD politician stands to lose his office and its employees.
The remaining staff should close the office and subsequently take over other tasks, according to a recommendation to the Bundestag's Finance Committee from the parties in the government coalition. However, Schröder should be allowed to keep his pension and his bodyguards, writes Flensburg Avis.
In this, the government coalition does not go quite as far as the conservative sister parties CDU and CSU, who also wanted to revoke Schröder's pension because of his contacts with Russia.
- Schröder is damaging Germany's international reputation. Despite the war in Ukraine, he has not yet distanced himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin and is also holding onto his positions in various Russian energy companies, the CDU and CSU said in their statement.
Schröder currently co-chairs the board of directors of Russia's large state-owned oil and gas company Rosneft. He also leads the shareholders in the controversial Nord Stream 2 project, and he is set to be appointed to the board of directors of the giant Russian oil and gas company Gazprom in June.
Does not mention Russia and Putin
Officially, the government coalition does not justify its position with Russia and Putin. This also makes it more difficult to argue against the proposal. Instead, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP are calling on the federal government to ensure that former chancellors are provided with the resources they need to fulfill their subsequent obligations. The former status as head of government, however, is not a justification.
In this context, the parties state that Gerhard Schröder no longer carries out any obligations related to his time as Chancellor. If so, the decision could also have consequences for former Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Schröder was Chancellor from 1998 to 2005. He subsequently took on tasks for, among others, the pipeline company Nord Stream, Russian Gazprom and the energy group Rosneft.
The SPD leadership has urged him to resign from the party due to his lack of distancing himself from Russia after the start of the war. The decision on the resignation will be made on Thursday.
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