Former German chancellor is about to be stripped of privileges because of ties with Russia

“The budget committee finds that former prime minister Gerhard Schroeder can no longer maintain his office obligations. His office will therefore be closed,” said the ruling three-party coalition. Virtue wrote today in a petition to strip Mr. Schroeder of privileges, expected to be approved by lawmakers on May 19.

It is customary for all former German leaders to have a state-funded office when they leave office. However, under a request to strip the former chancellor of Schroeder’s privileges, he will no longer be allowed to operate an office and use staff paid for by the budget, at an annual rate of about $421,000.

However, the former leader is still protected by the police force and receives a pension of $ 7,000 a month.

Despite the outcry, Mr. Schroeder was determined not to give up his posts in Russian energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom after Russia launched a campaign in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who shares the same Social Democrats as Schroeder, has also called on him to give up his Russia-related jobs, but to no avail.

Schroeder, 78, was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005, and is chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft. He is expected to join Gazprom’s supervisory board in June.

Gazprom is the corporation behind the Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline from Russia, the project was suspended by German Chancellor Scholz in protest of the war in Ukraine.

The former chancellor Schroeder is also a Nord Stream 1 contract signing in his final weeks in office and is the chairman of the shareholder committee of the company in charge of building the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

Chancellor Scholz’s coalition is seeking to amend the rule on privileges for retired leaders, which calls for privileges only to those who exercise “ongoing responsibility to their office” and no longer automatically enjoy the full privileges of position.

Ngoc Anh (According to AFP)