"A German friend" on Putin's Day.. Schroeder causes anger in Berlin with his visit to Moscow

The Kremlin announced, on Thursday, that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder participated in celebrating the birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The Kremlin stated via the Telegram application that Putin learned from the media that Schroeder was in the Russian capital on a business trip, before he invited his “old friend” to his home. He published pictures of the two men shaking hands and exchanging smiles.

Schroeder, 82 years old, was visiting Moscow days after joining the board of directors of the Russian HyperGlobus chain of stores, where he visited one of its branches and met its employees.

"HyperGlobus" originally belongs to the German "Globus" group, which operated stores in Russia before giving up its stake last year, transferring Russian activities to an independent company bearing the name "HyperGlobus".

A wave of German criticism of Schroeder after his visit to Putin

For years, Schroeder has faced criticism in Germany because of his close relations with the Russian president and in Russian economic circles, relations that continued even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow.

German Green Party politician Catherine Goering-Eckart said in a post on the X platform: "Shame on Germany. Betrayal of Europe. And a bad service to peace."

For her part, Marie-Agnes Struck-Zimmermann, head of the Defense Committee in the European Parliament for the Free Democratic Party, described Schroeder as "the rudest pensioner in Germany," criticizing what she considered to be a contradiction between his apology for not appearing before the investigation committees due to his health condition and his travel to Russia to participate in events with Russian officials.

“He is too sick to participate in investigative committees, but he is able, when it comes to well-paid Russian positions and a birthday party at the home of war criminal Putin, to attend,” Struck-Zimmerman wrote on the X platform. “It is an unparalleled disgrace.”

Dennis Radke, head of the social wing of the Christian Democratic Party, also criticized Schroeder's visit, noting that he is too sick to testify before an investigative committee, but he is able to travel to Moscow and meet Putin. He added sarcastically: “A miracle of healing in the style of Gerhard Schroeder’s Rasputin.”

Schroeder had repeatedly apologized, during the year 2025, for testifying before an investigation committee in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern regarding the Climate Foundation related to the context of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, citing his suffering from psychological burnout syndrome (professional burnout).

It is noteworthy that Putin suggested last May that Schroeder play a role in any possible peace talks regarding Ukraine, but the foreign ministers of European Union countries rejected the idea.