• Direct War in Ukraine, latest news

  • War in Ukraine The German government is studying a review of Schröder's benefits for his refusal to condemn Russia

Former German Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder

has filed a lawsuit against the Bundestag (Federal Parliament) after

the public allocation for his office was withdrawn

, amid a spate of criticism he receives for his ties to Russian President

Vladimir Putin

.

The suppression of these assignments is "illegitimate" and not even the former chancellor has been granted the right to reply, the politician's lawyers have affirmed to the regional public television 'NDR', about that demand, which has transpired this Friday to German media.

Parliament's administration decided last May to take away some privileges that Schröder receives in his capacity as former chancellor, including the staffing and maintenance of his office, whose expenses last year amounted to

419,000 euros

.

The politician's lawyers argue that Schröder has not been heard, who has tried in vain to talk about the issue with the president of the Bundestag parliamentary commission, the conservative Helge Braun, former Chancellery minister in Angela Merkel's last legislature. .

About the war in Ukraine

War in Ukraine.

Ukraine's 'Inglourious Basterds' causing terror in Kherson

  • Writing: ALBERTO ROJAS

Ukraine's 'Inglourious Basterds' causing terror in Kherson

War in Ukraine.

Ukraine deals Russian aviation its biggest blow since World War II: at least 7 planes destroyed in Crimea

  • Drafting: ALBERTO ROJASMadrid

Ukraine deals Russian aviation its biggest blow since World War II: at least 7 planes destroyed in Crimea

Schröder, in power between 1998 and 2005, is a very controversial figure due to

his links with Putin

, from which Germany's current energy dependence on Russia starts.

The leadership of

the Social Democratic Party (SPD)

has repeatedly urged him to break that relationship and even

"invited" him to leave his ranks

, if he does not do so.

Up to 17 local groups of the SPD have filed a lawsuit to open a file and, if necessary, expel him.

The initiative has been dismissed this week by the arbitration commission of the party in Hannover, the district for which Schröder is affiliated, and from where he started his career for the Chancellery, in 1998. The Social Democratic politician has

"regretted" in successive statements the war in Ukraine, without condemning Russia

, has defended its relationship with Putin and has even criticized the line of the current German government towards Moscow.

As German chancellor, Schröder gave the Russian president the status of political ally and friend.

These ties were forged in his seven years at the head of the European economic power.

The most visible fruit of it was the

construction of the German-Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline

, agreed between Berlin and Moscow in 2005, shortly before being removed from the Chancellery by the conservative Merkel.

A few months after that defeat, he was already holding board positions related to the gas pipeline.

This supposed

"revolving door"

has already been a complex issue for the SPD at that time and has been aggravated by the war in Ukraine.

Amid strong pressure, Schröder

resigned in May from his positions at the Russian oil consortium Rosneft

, whose board he had chaired since 2017, and from his nomination to join

Gazprom

.

The former foreign minister, however, defends his links with Putin, with whom he has met in Moscow on at least two occasions in recent months, supposedly to mediate.

Neither his party nor the Social Democrat Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, support these alleged mediation attempts.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

  • Angela Merkel

  • Russia

  • berlin

  • Ukraine

  • Germany

  • Vladimir Putin

  • War Ukraine Russia

  • Europe