The ruling coalition in the Bundestag reached an agreement against the former Federal Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder, who is sharply criticized due to proximity to the Russian leadership. It is reported by Deutsche Welle.
According to the report, members of the Bundestag Budgetary Committee Dennis Rode (SDPG), Sven-Christian Kindler (“Green”) and Otto Frikke (SVDP) said that the provision of former heads of federal governments “would no longer rely on status in the future”, and focus on the ongoing fulfillment of obligations.
They explained that Schroeder no longer fulfills any obligations as an ex-Chancellor, thereby there is no reason to provide him with employees and office. Therefore, the bureau of the former head of government in the Bundestag will be closed, but the ex-politician will continue to receive a pension and security. This provision should be officially adopted at a meeting of the budget committee, and amendments to the federal budget will be made at the adjustment session, which will begin on May 19
The newspaper Bild and the Der Spiegel newspaper previously reported. As Bild notes, this measure is justified by the fact that the Schroeder currently does not use six offices in the Bundestag and does not occupy seven employees provided to him as the former head of the federal government, it is indicated further.
The former politician, considered the main German close to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, will be deprived of a significant part of the security from budget funds Recently, the expenses of Schröder on staff were about 400 thousand euros per year. According to the Handelsblatt business publication, in 2021 five employees worked in the Schröder Bureau, the head of the office received about 10,400 euros per month. In 2017, about 561 thousand euros were paid from the budget for the salary of Schröder.
In Germany, Gerhard Schröder is strongly criticized for the proximity to the Kremlin and activities in Russian state -owneds. Criticism sharply intensified after the start of the war in Ukraine.