German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is “deeply outraged” by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s visit to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s home to celebrate the Russian president’s birthday this week. A German government spokesperson said this on Friday, reports UNN, citing Reuters.
Details
The publication notes that Schröder, who served as chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has faced criticism in Germany and abroad because of his ties to Russian business and Putin — ties that have persisted despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent waves of Western sanctions.
“Only Putin bears responsibility for the war in Ukraine. His orders are the cause of unspeakable suffering, civilian casualties, shattered families, and those killed and wounded,” the spokesperson said. “The chancellor considers it ... entirely immoral that Mr. Schröder attended such a celebration.”
Putin celebrated his birthday with Schröder by the stove and with a samovar08.10.26, 23:00
In addition
On Thursday, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin turned 74.
Schröder, 82, and his wife, Soyeon Schröder-Kim, who sometimes handles his communications, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The visit also drew criticism from members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), to which Schröder belongs.
The party’s co-chair Lars Klingbeil, who also serves as Germany’s finance minister in the coalition led by conservatives (headed by Merz), called the move “entirely unacceptable” in view of the suffering inflicted on the people of Ukraine, the daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports.
Over the past 20 years, Schröder has held a number of senior positions at Russian companies.
Shortly after the end of his term, he headed the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream — a gas pipeline project under the auspices of Gazprom running through the Baltic Sea, which he actively supported while serving as chancellor — and later held executive positions at the Russian oil company Rosneft.
Earlier this year, Putin said he would like to see Schröder as his interlocutor in negotiations on new security arrangements in Europe — an idea immediately rejected by the European Union and the Merz government. Last week, Schröder joined the supervisory board of the Russian retailer Hyperglobus, a subsidiary of the German holding company Globus, which operates more than 20 supermarkets in Russia.