The former chancellor has been heavily criticized for not giving up his posts at Russian energy companies despite the Russian attack on Ukraine.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The office staff have long since resigned, his party is suggesting that he leave, and now former SPD chancellor Gerhard Schröder is to finally lose his office because of his contacts in Russia. At the crucial meeting of the budget committee on the 2022 budget, his office equipment is to be cut this week. The chief householders of the traffic light coalition have agreed on a corresponding regulation together with their parliamentary group leaders.
After that, the former chancellor’s office is to be “dormant” in the future. “The budget committee calls on the federal government to ensure that the official equipment of former chancellors is based on the ongoing obligation from office and not status-related,” says a draft of the traffic light application for the budget committee available to the Handelsblatt. What that means for the appointments of former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) initially remained open.
The traffic light coalition does not officially justify the removal of Schröder’s privileges with his attitude towards Russia and Putin. That should probably make the decision less vulnerable. The budget spokesman Dennis Rohde (SPD), Sven-Christian Kindler (Greens) and Otto Fricke (FDP) therefore explain that Schröder no longer perceives any “continuing obligations from office” as a former Chancellor. “Thus, the reason for the personal and spatial equipment of the former Chancellor no longer applies.”
After their term in office, former chancellors usually not only receive a pension that depends on their term of office, but also an office with several employees, a driver and reimbursement of travel expenses. The basis for this is not a law, but merely a so-called stipulation decision of the budget committee – which can also be easily changed in the committee.
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The three factions of the coalition now want to bring in a new resolution in the clean-up meeting of the budget committee on Thursday. Schröder should only be allowed to keep personal protection – depending on the security assessment of the Federal Criminal Police Office.
Union questions pension for Schröder
Last year, the costs for staff and travel for employees in the former chancellor’s office amounted to around 419,000 euros, which were paid from the state treasury.
Schröder has been heavily criticized for not giving up his posts at Russian energy companies despite the Russian attack on Ukraine. Schröder, who is considered a longtime friend of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, is the head of the supervisory board at the Russian state energy company Rosneft. He also holds management positions on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline projects.
Several of Schröder’s employees have already given up their posts. The SPD leadership has repeatedly asked the former chancellor to leave the party. There are also motions for expulsion from the party.
Unlike the traffic light coalition, the CDU and CSU want Schröder to cut not only the office, but also the budget for his care. According to an application by the union budget holders, the law should stipulate that former members of the government can lose their pension entitlements if they cause “significant damage” to the country’s reputation by acting on behalf of the interests of a foreign state. It would also be possible to limit government grants in time or to link the right to equipment to the amount of additional income.
Schroeder harms Germany’s international reputation, the Union’s householders justify their initiative. Despite the war in Ukraine, he did not distance himself from the Russian president. At the same time, he is sticking to his posts in various Russian energy companies. “Retired Chancellor Schröder is thus on the wrong side of history.”
More: “Putin’s most loyal voice in the EU” – Traffic light politicians call for sanctions against former Chancellor Schröder