Former Chancellor: Miersch sees room for Gerhard Schröder in the SPD

The new SPD general secretary Matthias Miersch approached the controversial former chancellor Gerhard Schröder and made it clear that he sees him as part of the party. When asked whether there should be room for Schröder in German social democracy, Miersch told “Stern”: “Yes. Otherwise Gerhard Schröder would have had to be expelled from the party.”

Despite the Russian attack on Ukraine, the former Chancellor is sticking to his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and continues to work for the majority Russian companies on the Nord Stream pipelines through the Baltic Sea. He is therefore excluded from the SPD leadership. However, a party expulsion process against him failed.

Miersch from Lower Saxony, who was the only active SPD federal politician to take part in the celebration of the former Chancellor’s 60th party membership last year, emphasized: “We had two arbitration proceedings against Gerhard Schröder. Both confirmed that he had not behaved in a way that was harmful to the party .” The case is “closed from a legal point of view”.

Miersch: Recognize Schröder’s political achievements

Rather, Miersch advocated honoring the former Chancellor’s political achievements. “I can appreciate his life’s work overall, especially as chairman of the Hanover district, even if I have a fundamentally different view on Putin and the attack on Ukraine,” said the SPD general secretary.

Criticism came from the Young Liberals. The FDP youth organization called on the SPD to clarify its relationship with Russia as quickly as possible. “The turning point must also mean: time to completely clear up the Moscow connection,” said federal chairwoman Franziska Brandmann, according to the statement.