Former chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s closeness to Russia has not resulted in party fines from the SPD. This is announced by the arbitration commission of the SPD in the Hanover district. Several media had previously reported about it.
According to the decision, it cannot be “determined with sufficient certainty” that Schröder violated statutes, principles or the party order or was guilty of an dishonorable act. “Perhaps top German politicians have misjudged the dangers of being dependent on Russian energy supplies over the past 25 years.” But that also applies to other politicians from the SPD and other parties. Accusing Schröder of such a misjudgment would therefore go too far.
State associations are disappointed by the decision
Seven state associations had submitted applications for Schröder’s party expulsion in the second instance, after applications from 17 SPD associations had already been rejected in the first instance.
In a joint statement, the state associations from Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony expressed their disappointment with the decision. One is further convinced that Schröder’s closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin, his work for Russian state-owned companies “and his lack of distancing from Putin’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine are not compatible with basic social democratic values”.
However, this is not the end of the case. The SPD branches that had applied for the appeal could now apply for an appeal to the SPD Federal Arbitration Commission. However, it is considered rather unlikely that a further appeal would be allowed after two acquittals in the first instance. The state associations announced that they would like to discuss further steps.