Apparently, the office staff of the ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder are getting carried away. According to several independent media reports, his longtime office manager and three other employees have stopped working. The reason for this is said to be Schröder’s friendship with Vladimir Putin.
As is the custom, former Federal Chancellors are entitled to an office in the German Bundestag even after they have left office. With the appropriate equipment, such as an appropriate staffing level.
Under these conditions, Gerhard Schröder, 77, also maintains an office with the address Deutscher Bundestag, Platz der Republik 1. Or do I have to say: maintained? According to several independent media reports, his longtime office manager and speechwriter, Albrecht Funk, and three other office workers have stopped working. This is reported unanimously by the morning podcast by “The Pioneer” and the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung” (HAZ).
There is no official justification for the move, but according to The Pioneer, Schröder’s attitude in the Ukraine war and his refusal to show a clear edge to his friend Vladimir Putin are said to have something to do with the decision.
Schröder has been in the service of state-owned Russian energy companies for many years. He is the head of the supervisory board at the Rosneft oil company and also has management positions in the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline projects. At the end of June he is to become a supervisory board member at the controversial Gazprom group.
Immediately before the Russian attack, at a time when Putin had already deployed more than 100,000 soldiers to the border, Schröder irritated with statements that accused Ukraine of “saber-rattling”. And in view of the ongoing Russian military operations, Schröder apparently sees no reason to resign from his post at the Russian energy companies.
Will Schröder’s office now be closed completely?
According to “The Pioneer” that was apparently too much for his employees. Funk is said to have recommended his boss to quickly and clearly distance himself from Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin and to resign from all supervisory board mandates in Russian companies. Spicy: Funk must now be accommodated by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Chancellery, since he has a right of return. In addition, according to “The Pioneer”, Scholz must also decide whether Schröder will be given new employees for his office at all. In Berlin there is speculation that the office could possibly be closed.
The expenses for the offices of the former federal chancellor are met from the budget of the Federal Chancellery. Last year, personnel expenses for Schröder’s office alone cost taxpayers 407,000 euros, according to a response from the chancellor’s office to a request from the left-wing faction.
Source: Stern
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