The ruling coalition has decided to appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers to minimize state funding of the ex-chancellor in connection with his “active support of the Kremlin.”
Former Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder believes that Russia's international isolation will not last long. Schroeder said this in an interview with The New York Times (NYT), published on Saturday, April 23, reports DW.
“In the long run, it is impossible to isolate a country like Russia politically or economically,” he said. “German industry needs raw materials that are available in Russia. It's not just oil and gas, but also rare [metals]. These are raw materials that are not easy to replace,” Schroeder said. The world and prosperity of Germany and Europe will always depend on dialogue with Russia, he said.
In an interview with the NYT, Gerhard Schroeder also said under what circumstances he will resign as chairman of the board of directors of Russia's oil and gas company Rosneft. According to the former head of the German Cabinet, this will happen if Moscow stops supplying oil and gas to Europe.
“This will not happen,” Schroeder said. However, in this scenario, “I will resign,” he said.
“When this war is over, we will have to return to relations with Russia. We always do that,” he added. p>The leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) previously sent a letter to the former Chancellor of Germany, demanding that he resign as soon as possible from all positions he holds in Russian state-owned companies. Lars Klingbayl, the party's co-chairman, said on March 3. According to him, Schroeder is “completely isolated” in the SPD, there is no one in the party leadership who “at least partially approves or justifies” the actions of the former chancellor.
Read also: Gerhard Schroeder does not regret his policies concerning Russia in the past
Since 2017, the former Chancellor of Germany has headed the supervisory board of directors of the state oil company Rosneft. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Shareholders' Committee of Nord Stream AG, the operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and holds a similar position in Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. In early February, it became known that Gerhard Schroeder had been nominated to the board of directors of Russia's state-owned Gazprom.
Gerhard Schroeder has long been criticized for his proximity to the Kremlin, a longtime friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the start of the war in Ukraine, the pressure on the former chancellor intensified, he was required to distance himself from Putin.
On the day of the full-scale Russian invasion – February 24 – the former chancellor publicly called on Moscow to end the war and the “related suffering of the people of Ukraine” as soon as possible. “This is the responsibility of the Russian government,” the former German prime minister wrote on LinkedIn, adding that Russia's security interests did not justify the use of military means.
Chancellor of Germany, said that now the friendship is over. “What has happened in the last few weeks means, of course, a political rift between me and Schroeder,” Klingbayle said.
At a congress of the Free Democratic Party on April 23, together with the SPD and the Soyuz-90/Greens, which is part of the ruling coalition, it was decided to appeal to the German Cabinet to minimize state funding for the former chancellor. with his “active support of the Kremlin”.
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