Reactions to former Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin and personally Putin have long gone beyond political correctness. The glass has overflowed, the dissatisfaction has become anger, with more and more politicians now from the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, the Greens and even like-minded people from the SPD, asking for his name to be included in the list of Western sanctions as soon as possible. Moscow.
The fact that Schroeder has not resigned from high-ranking positions in the Russian energy giants, as well as his recent interview with the New York Times, where he did not in fact condemn the Russian aggression, create an unprecedented climate in Germany against a former chancellor.
“Schroeder is Putin’s most important man in Germany,” “he does not belong to the Crem de la Crem of domestic politics but to the Crem de la Kremlin,” war in Ukraine is a distorted falsification of history “are just some of the statements made by German politicians in the last hours about the former chancellor. In fact, the co-chair of the Social Democrats, Saskia Esken, asked for the removal of Gerhard Schroeder from the SPD, after 60 years of presence in the party and despite the fact that he is a historical member of the Social Democratic faction.
The “lifelong” privileges of the former chancellors under the microscope
At the same time, Liberal Vice-President Wolfgang Koumbicki expressed serious doubts in an interview with the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschand about the need to keep the parliamentary offices staffed by former chancellors.
The maintenance of these offices is based on the parliamentary etiquette that essentially honors those who have served in the German Chancellery. These offices are in fact financed directly by the citizens through a special tax, while as it appeared from the interview Koumpiki, the issue is already the concern of the Budget Committee of the German parliament.
“I think it is necessary to have a fundamental discussion about whether the offices of former chancellors should remain staffed for decades. “Therefore, the question of whether Chancellor Merkel needs an office on a permanent basis, and in fact with dual equipment, is justified, at a time when there is a maximum time limit for the former Speakers of the German Parliament,” said Wolfgang Koumpiki. Supreme Presidential office may justify such privileges.
In the case of Gerhard Schroeder, however, his office continues to be formally staffed with nine posts. Last year alone, 407,000 euros were given to this office for its official maintenance from the state budget. At the moment, however, the positions remain vacant following the resignations of his associates due to the war in Ukraine.
DW – Dimitra Kyranoudi, Berlin
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