Status: 04/28/2022 10:23 a.m
The pressure on Rosneft lobbyist and former Chancellor Schröder continues to grow: the University of Göttingen asked him to resign his honorary doctorate. Criticism also comes from Green Party leader Nouripour and Poland’s Prime Minister Morawiecki.
The criticism of former Chancellor Schröders for his commitment to the Russian energy giant Rosneft does not stop, quite the opposite: After more and more politicians advocate his exclusion from the SPD and the demand to put him on the sanctions list, the University of Göttingen is now finally distancing himself. The university asked Schröder to resign his honorary doctorate. The Executive Committee, the Academic Senate and the Deans justified this in a statement with Schröder’s positions towards Russia and his supervisory board positions in state-owned Russian companies.
The university’s statement states: “Against the background of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which represents a breach of international law, the foundation university is consistently following the political directive to put all university and research cooperation as well as economic transactions with Russia on hold.”
Holding on to offices in the economic apparatus of the aggressor is incompatible with the university’s mission statement:
For the University of Göttingen it is therefore incomprehensible that with the former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, an outstanding alumnus and honorary doctor of our university, even after weeks of bitter acts of war and an ever worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine, does not clearly name the criminal war of aggression as such and continue his activities in Russian companies at least rest
Discussions with Schröder, in which he also described his efforts to end the war, “could not allay our concerns,” it continued: “Even though we welcome every effort to end the war of aggression, which violates international law, as soon as possible.”
The University of Göttingen awarded Schröder an honorary doctorate in 2005. He had studied law in Göttingen from 1966 to 1971.
“Expect his resignation any minute”
Schröder’s refusal to give up his support for the Russian energy company Rosneft was also a topic on the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”. The Greens chairman, Omid Nouripour, called on Schröder to immediately give up his position on the supervisory board: “I’m expecting his resignation every minute,” stressed Nouripour.
In an interview in the New York Times, Schröder announced that he would take this step if Russia stopped supplying gas to Germany or the European Union. Russia has now stopped supplying gas to EU members Poland and Bulgaria. Nouripour emphasized that he could no longer understand the former chancellor’s actions:
There are people you are disappointed in and there are people you wonder how they can still look in the mirror. And then there are people who make me wonder if there is a mirror hanging at all.
“Wouldn’t shake hands with Schröder anymore”
But the criticism is getting louder abroad too: Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview with “Bild” that he would no longer shake hands with Schröder. His reasoning:
This man has learned nothing. He has no shame, no pangs of conscience. We all know the horrific images of war crimes from Bucha, Hostomel and elsewhere. If that doesn’t move you to rethink, you have no decency.
More than clear criticism of Schröder: Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki sees “no decency” in the Rosneft lobbyist and former chancellor.
Image: EPA