The former Chancellor is coming under increasing pressure in the Ukraine crisis.
(Photo: imago/localpic)
Berlin Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) loses his longtime office manager and speechwriter Albrecht Funk. After more than 20 years, Funk is turning its back on its boss, the news portal “The Pioneer” and the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung” reported on Tuesday. Three other employees of the SPD politician would also give up their posts.
Funk confirmed to the Reuters news agency “that the four employees in the office have asked to return to work in other functions”. He did not want to comment on the reasons.
According to “Pioneer”, the attitude of the former Chancellor to Russia’s attack on Ukraine was said to have been decisive. Funk is said to have advised Schröder to distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the weekend, the SPD leadership asked Schröder to give up his posts in Russian companies.
The former chancellor, who is considered a longtime friend of Putin, is the head of the supervisory board at the Russian state energy company Rosneft. In addition, the social democrat has leading positions in the pipeline projects Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 – both natural gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea connect Russia and Germany.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The pending commissioning of Nord Stream 2 has now been put on hold by the federal government. Schröder was also recently nominated for the supervisory board of the Russian state gas company Gazprom.
Criticism of former chancellor Schröder because of Gazprom and closeness to Putin
Most recently, the former chancellor had condemned the Russian war of aggression in an article on the social network “LinkedIn” and demanded that it “be ended as soon as possible”. However, with the restriction that mistakes were made “on both sides”. Schröder avoided words like “attack” or “invasion” in his statement. Nor did he mention Putin himself.
Before that, the former chancellor had attracted attention because, before Russia attacked Ukraine, he criticized Ukrainian demands for arms deliveries as “saber rattling” in his podcast “Die Agenda”.
The podcast is now being put on hold in view of the current situation, Schröder’s former government spokesman Béla Anda told the “Bild” newspaper. Anda had regularly recorded the contributions in the format together with Schröder.
According to the “Pioneer” report, Schröder’s former office manager, Funk, has the right to return to the Federal Chancellery. It remains to be seen whether the chancellery will approve new staff for the former chancellor.
Last year, 407,000 euros flowed from the state coffers for personnel expenses in Schröder’s office. This emerges from a response from the Chancellery to a request from the left-wing faction, which is available to the Handelsblatt. The expenses relate to the payment of employees in Schröder’s office.
According to the federal government, a salary of B6 is planned for the office manager position, i.e. around 10,400 euros per month. Depending on their professional experience, the other employees earn between 13,700 and 19,400 euros a month.
SPD politician: Schröder has forfeited the right to official appointments
The SPD member of the Bundestag, Sebastian Roloff, spoke out in favor of withdrawing Schröder’s office. In principle, one should be careful not to withhold state privileges from former chancellors because of unwelcome decisions, Roloff told the Handelsblatt. “In this particular case, however, I believe that Gerhard Schröder has forfeited his right to official appointments by not distancing himself from the warmonger and violator of international law Putin.”
Regarding any new employees for Schröder, Roloff said: “The Chancellery will certainly make a sensible decision here.”
The CDU politician Gitta Connemann called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to act. He “must no longer hold his hand over former Chancellor Schröder – party friend or not,” said the federal chairwoman of the SME and Economic Union to the Handelsblatt. The federal government should not fill the vacancies in Schröder’s office. “The official equipment is to be discontinued. The German taxpayer can expect that.”
Schröder still does not break away from warmonger Putin and has his services paid for by Russian state companies. The former chancellor’s office staff had shown their composure and turned their backs on him. “That’s decency,” said Connemann.
The CSU welcomed the departure of Schröder employees from the former chancellor. “After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the office staff show more backbone than Mr. Schröder,” said the financial and budgetary policy spokesman for the CSU state group, Sebastian Brehm. “Mr. Schröder has gambled away all moral credit by holding on to the lucrative post by Putin’s grace. It is now time for the SPD to take action as well.”
Brehm also spoke out in favor of not filling the vacant positions in the Schröder office. “In view of Schröder’s position in the war against Ukraine, now is the right time to close his former chancellor’s office,” said the CSU politician.
The equipment of the former Federal Chancellor is not regulated by law. The funds come from the budget of the Federal Chancellery and are then approved by the Budget Committee on the basis of a proposal from the Chancellery.
“Whoever dedicates himself wholeheartedly to a warmonger cannot expect any official equipment from the German taxpayer,” said Connemann. “Benefits are due only to former chancellors who work for the previous office and perform befitting the dignity of the office. Anything else is unbearable.”
With agency material
More: Follow the current developments in the Ukraine war.