The word about the shame is making the rounds in Berlin. There is great outrage over former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder - starting at the very top in the Chancellery. Deputy government spokesman Steffen Meyer formulates what Chancellor Friedrich Merz thinks about one of his predecessors: "The Chancellor is deeply outraged by Mr. Schröder's meeting with Russian President Putin."
Also outraged because Vladimir Putin is responsible for thousands of deaths and immeasurable suffering in Ukraine. Shaking your head that a former chancellor is celebrating his 74th birthday with Putin in Moscow. "Against this background, the Chancellor finds it downright immoral that Mr. Schröder celebrates with Mr. Putin on such a day."
The SPD shakes its head
“Completely unacceptable” – that’s what SPD Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil thinks. There is a collective, resigned shake of the head in the SPD about the man who they tried in vain to throw out of their party and have since ignored him - as best as they can. To this day, what today's co-chairwoman Bärbel Bas put it this way still applies: "I just find it sad to end up destroying such a political legacy."
The Green Party Katrin Göring-Eckhart is not sad, but angry. She writes of a disgrace, a betrayal of Europe, a disservice to peace.
The FDP politician and chairwoman of the European Parliament's Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, is even clearer. She calls the 82-year-old Schröder Germany's cheekiest pensioner and writes: "Too sick for committees of inquiry (very bad burnout), but he's still enough for well-paid mandates in Russia and a birthday party at home with war criminal Putin. A disgrace beyond compare."
Then there it is again: the shame. Little is known about the birthday visit. A picture shows Schröder shaking hands with Putin. It's not the couple's first birthday party together. Putin once traveled to Hanover with a Cossack choir for Schröder's 60th birthday. Schröder celebrated his 70th by sleighing in Saint Petersburg.
Schröder doesn't want to be dictated to
So now Putin's party in Moscow. When it comes to his friendship with the warlord Putin, Schröder remains true to himself: "It's one of those points where I don't allow myself to be told what to do and what not to do," he once said on the subject.
Incidentally, the visit was not coordinated with the Foreign Ministry, the Chancellery or the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for Schröder's personal protection. Since 2022, the ex-chancellor has only spoken for one thing: himself.
“Account more important than Germany’s reputation”
The Bundestag's budget committee had "suspended" his former chancellor's office, five employees and a driver, it is officially said. Schröder sued at the time. Vain. Even back then, Schröder's closeness to Putin and his adherence to his connection had caused angry reactions. CSU leader Markus Söder chose the words "stubborn, old, bizarre man for whom his own bank account is more important than Germany's reputation" for the former chancellor.
At least one person defends the ex-chancellor. SPD foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner told several media outlets that Schröder was one of the few in Germany who still had access to Putin. If the visit contributed even a millimeter to peace, it would be a success.
That should remain an individual opinion.
