Schröder: Wife speaks of “campaign against my husband” after SPD deletion

Gerhard Schröder not only maintains a close friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he also conducts business with Russia. Ten days after the start of the war against Ukraine, Schröder’s unwillingness to turn away from Russia is a dominant theme in the media. His wife So-yeon Schröder-Kim doesn’t like it at all.

She recently deleted an Instagram post a few hours after it was published. On Saturday, she addressed the public again via Instagram. “Dear comrades,” she begins in her public letter, “(…) I am appalled at the haste with which the SPD leadership, but also in many grassroots organizations, is so eager to support a campaign, primarily by the Springer publishing house, against my husband to should.”

She continues: “Only by the way, it should be noted that the CEO of this publishing house, Döpfner, gave the public advice, as the ‘Neue Zürcher Zeitung’ reports, that NATO should intervene militarily in the Ukraine, but apparently gave little thought to what consequences that might have for a nuclear conflict and thus for world peace.” The request by the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany for Gerhard Schröder to mediate in ending the war was far more rational.

SPD deletes Schröder from list of major social democrats

The “Bild” newspaper, which belongs to Springer-Verlag, also reports extensively on Gerhard Schröder. Articles published on the Internet are entitled, for example, “Mr. Schröder, donate your Kremlin millions,” “Not like that, Gerhard Schröder,” or “The Putin petters.” Other publications report on events in connection with the ex-chancellor, such as the demand by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for the ex-chancellor to withdraw from Russia.

Scholz and the SPD leadership had asked Schröder to vacate his posts at Russian state companies. Because he is the head of the supervisory board at the Russian state energy company Rosneft and is also in the management of the pipeline projects Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2. In addition, the ex-chancellor is to take on a supervisory board position for Gazprom.

“My advice to Gerhard Schröder is to resign from these offices,” Scholz said on Thursday on the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner”. The question is not a private matter. One is committed to one’s public office beyond one’s term of office. “This commitment does not end when you leave office, it continues.” Scholz also advocated reviewing the financing of the former chancellor’s office from taxpayers’ money. The Heidelberg branch of the SPD has submitted a first application for the former chancellor to be expelled from the party.

The SPD has now removed Gerhard Schröder from a list of major social democrats. The 34 important personalities in her history, who she had listed on her website, became 33. This was caused by the party leadership, since Schröder’s naming does not fit the current situation, the party said. Schröder cups were also removed from the shelves of the SPD shop.

So-yeon Schröder-Kim: Schröder will do everything to end the Ukraine war

So-yeon Schröder-Kim is visibly bothered by the measures taken against her husband. “I didn’t join the SPD because Gerhard Schröder is my husband, but because even as a young person in my home country (Korea) I always had great respect for the steadfastness of the great democrat, Kim Dae-Jung, who by the way is a close friend of Willy Brandt was, had and have.”

Finally, she says: “You can be sure that whatever my husband can do to help end the war, he will do it, regardless of ultimatums from the SPD or other organizations such as the DFB.” The DFB called on the former chancellor, as an honorary member of the association, to give up his “functions in Russian state-owned companies” or to give up his honorary membership in the DFB. Borussia Dortmund has already withdrawn his honorary membership.

Sources: , with material from the dpa