Germany's ruling parties have decided to strip former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of his parliamentary privileges amid anger over his refusal to distance himself from the Kremlin despite the war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reports.
Schroeder, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is chairman of the board of Russian oil giant Rosneft and is closely involved in Nord Stream 1 and 2, the controversial gas pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
A joint proposal by the ruling Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, which will be debated by the Bundestag's budget committee on Thursday, seeks to strip him of his office and the staff who accompanied him in parliament.
All parties will call on the government to ensure that former chancellors are not automatically granted privileges, but only receive them if they carry out tasks they say are compatible with their role.
"The budget committee determines that former chancellor Schröder no longer fulfills any obligations arising from his position," the request states. "For this reason, his office will be closed." The submission does not mention Schroeder's attitude towards Russia and Putin. Unofficially, it is claimed that an effort is being made to avoid the impression that the former chancellor has been punished for his controversial views.
"Gerhard Schröder is only a lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies and is no longer active on behalf of the German government," said Sven-Kristijan Kindler, the Greens' budget policy spokesman. As he added, therefore, the need to assign him an office and staff ceases.
Schroeder, chancellor from 1998 to 2005, was criticized for an interview with the New York Times in April in which he defended his close ties to Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine.
He also said he did not think Putin was guilty of alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops in places like Bucha, a northwestern suburb of Kyiv, saying only that "it must be investigated," reports Danas.
After the comments, Saskia Esken, leader of the Social Democrats, called on Schröder to leave the party. She said that for years he behaved like a "businessman, and we should not look at him as an elder statesman".
"He makes his money working for Russian state enterprises and the way he defends Vladimir Putin against war crimes charges is completely absurd," she added.
Under the proposal, although he will lose his position in the Bundestag, Schroeder will be allowed to keep his bodyguards and pension.
A rival proposal submitted by the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) demanded that Schröder's pension be revoked. Markus Soder, the Bavarian prime minister and leader of the CSU, described Schröder in April as "a bizarre, old man who cares more about his own bank account than Germany's reputation in the world."
"It's shameful, a shame for our country," he continued.
Schröder took over as chairman of the board of Nord Stream AG shortly after leaving office in 2005 – a move that proved highly controversial at the time. Since then, he has only deepened his involvement in the project.
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