Status: 08/08/2022 3:24 p.m
According to the arbitration commission, former chancellor Schröder did not violate party rules with his contacts with Russia. The decision can be appealed. Schröder may remain a member of the SPD for the time being.
The former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder did not violate the party order of the SPD with his commitment to Russian state-owned companies. The competent commission sees no basis for a complaint or even for a party exclusion.
“The arbitration commission of the SPD sub-district of the Hanover region has determined that the respondent Gerhard Schröder is not guilty of violating the party order, since no violation can be proven,” the commission said in the first instance.
The decision can be appealed within two weeks. This would first have to be submitted in writing and then justified in writing within one month.
“So there are no consequences for Gerhard Schröder,” Catrhine Lejeune, NDR, on the SPD membership of the former chancellor
Tagesschau 3:00 p.m., August 8, 2022
17 applications for proceedings against Schröder
17 SPD branches had applied for party order proceedings against Schröder, and there were other applications that did not meet the formal requirements. The arbitration commission in Hanover had negotiated the procedure in public in mid-July, but with the media excluded. Schröder himself neither appeared in person nor sent a lawyer.
The arbitration commission of the SPD sub-district Hanover region is responsible for the procedure because Schröder is a member of the associated SPD local association Oststadt-Zoo. However, up to two other instances are possible: in the SPD district of Hanover and in the SPD Federal Arbitration Commission.
Criticism of Schröder’s involvement in Russia
Schröder has long been criticized for his closeness to Russia. He is considered a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and worked for Russian energy companies for years. Since the end of his term of office in 2005, he has worked as Chairman of the Supervisory Board for Nord Stream AG, which brings Russian gas to Western Europe via pipelines through the Baltic Sea.
Since the outbreak of war, the SPD leadership had urged Schröder to give up his posts at Russian energy companies. In May, Schröder gave up his position on the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft and turned down a nomination for a seat on the supervisory board of the Russian gas giant Gazprom.
The budget committee of the Bundestag had decided to close the office of the 78-year-old, who had four employees, because he no longer had any obligations as former chancellor for Germany.
Esken: “Schröder is not acting as ex-chancellor”
SPD co-chair Saskia Esken had already suggested to Schröder in April that he leave the party because of his comments on the Ukraine war.
Esken also sharply criticized Schröder for his recent statements about President Putin’s alleged willingness to negotiate in the Ukraine war. “Gerhard Schröder is not acting as an ex-chancellor, but as a businessman, and that’s how we should interpret his statements,” she told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “With everything he does and says, he acts in his own interest and in that of his business partners.”
The former chancellor’s trip to Russia
According to the Kremlin, Schröder was in the Russian capital Moscow at the end of July. With regard to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Schröder stated that it was the Russian government’s responsibility to end the war. However, the ties to Russia should not be completely severed. In July, the former chancellor also declared that he wanted to keep in touch with Putin and did not believe in a military solution in Ukraine.
After the trip to Moscow, Schröder gave an interview to Stern magazine and the RTL and ntv channels, in which he said with regard to the Ukraine war: “The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution.” Schröder’s statements in the interview met with massive criticism across all parties in Germany, but also internationally.
Klingbeil: Schröder is politically isolated in the SPD
SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil was initially cautious about the preliminary failure of the party order process against Schröder. “The arbitration commission in Hanover has made a legal decision,” explained Klingbeil. At the same time he distanced himself from the former chancellor: “For us it is clear: Gerhard Schröder is politically isolated with his positions in the SPD.”
On the sidelines of the negotiation of the party order procedure, the managing director of the SPD district of Hanover, Christoph Matterne, said that there were also many SPD members who showed solidarity with Schröder. “They say: If Gerhard Schröder is excluded, then it’s over for me after 40 years,” said Matterne.