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UKRAINE

Pressure grows on ex-German Chancellor Schröder over Russia links

Part of Gerhard Schröder's entourage quit on Tuesday, according to local reports, adding to the pressure for the former German chancellor to cut his ties with Russian companies.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) talks at an event in Berlin in 2021.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) talks at an event in Berlin in 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

The four members of his office staff who resigned showed they had “more backbone” than the Social Democrat, said Sebastian Brehm (CSU), a senior member of the conservative parliamentary group.

Schröder, who led Germany between 1998 and 2005, had “lost all his moral credibility by clinging to the lucrative posts”, Brehm said.

Meanwhile, the chancellor’s former spokesman, Bela Anda, announced a halt to his regular podcast with Schröder.

The Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, where Schröder is an honorary member, was also applying pressure on him, according to local reports.

Were the chancellor to hold on to his posts Dortmund could “not accept this and would make a decision accordingly”, the club told German daily Bild.

At issue are Schröder’s role as chairman of the board of directors of Russian oil giant Rosneft, as well as his planned ascension to the supervisory board of the gas giant Gazprom in June.

The gas group is behind the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia, whose approval was blocked by the German government in one of the West’s first responses to the aggression in Ukraine.

READ ALSO: OPINION – Germany has scuppered Nord Stream 2 but there are questions to answer

Schröder himself signed off on the first Nord Stream in his final weeks in office, and currently heads the pipeline’s shareholders’ committee.

The elder statesman, who has been publicly friendly with Putin, describing him as a “perfect democrat” in 2004, has become a nuisance for Germany’s leadership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets ex German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in May 2018 during a ceremony marking Putin’s inauguration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets ex German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in May 2018 during a ceremony marking Putin’s inauguration. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Alexei Druzhinin

Current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from the same party as Schröder, has distanced himself from his predecessor, saying recently “he does not speak for the government”.

Schröder’s roles were “damaging Germany’s reputation”, the co-head of the Social Democrats Saskia Esken said over the weekend.

In a LinkedIn post last week, the ex-leader said the war in Ukraine “must be stopped as soon as possible”, but added there had been “mistakes — on both sides”.

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POLITICS

Scholz calls on coalition to ‘pull ourselves together’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday called on his fractious governing coalition to "pull ourselves together" following a dismal showing in EU parliament elections last week.

Scholz calls on coalition to 'pull ourselves together'

In power since the end of 2021, the three parties in government — Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal FDP — have been at loggerheads on a wide range of issues including climate measures and budget spending.

“I think that this is one of the entirely justified criticisms of many citizens, namely that there is too much debate” within the coalition, Scholz told German television channel ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

“We need to pull ourselves together and stick together to reach agreements,” he added.

“The people have the right to demand that things change,” Scholz told public broadcaster ARD.

The three parties in the coalition suffered a severe defeat in the European elections, with the SPD achieving its worst result in a national election since 1949.

Subsequently, Scholz has faced mounting criticism within his own party.

On Saturday, however, Scholz told ZDF and ARD that he was “sure” that he would be the SPD’s next candidate for the chancellorship in the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2025.

In the very short term, a new test awaits the coalition, which must reach an agreement on the 2025 budget by the beginning of July.

The FDP’s finance minister is opposed to any exceptions to the rules limiting debt and to any tax increases.

On the other hand, the SPD and the Greens are opposed to cuts in social welfare or climate protection.

The debate is also focused on increasing the resources allocated to the German army.

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