Dortmund withdraws honorary membership from former German chancellor for links to Russia
The German club, Borussia Dortmund, announced today that it has withdrawn the honorary membership of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder due to his links with Russia.
The club, which currently ranks second in the German Bundesliga, said in a statement that President Reinhard Raubal had told Schroeder "in a personal meeting" that his membership had been revoked.
The Ruhr club added, "It is unacceptable in light of the Russian attack against Ukraine" that an honorary member of Dortmund should occupy a management position in a Russian government institution.
The decision was made by the club's executive committee due to Schroeder's close ties to Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Schroeder, 77, a German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, is a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, and the shareholder committee of Nord Stream 2, the controversial Russian-German gas pipeline.
He is expected to join the supervisory board of Russian energy giant Gazprom in June.
Unlike previous European officials such as the French Francois Fillon or the Italian Matteo Renzi, Schroeder has so far refused to resign from his posts.
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