by Paolo Valentino
The former German chancellor has given up his post at the Russian oil giant after weeks of argument. The Bundestag has deprived him of office and staff, the SPD does not know how to deal with it
From our correspondent
BERLIN – What is former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder defending with the sudden decision to step down from the board of Russian oil giant Rosneft after months of refusal? Is it a last-minute attempt to salvage his reputation, finally giving up doing the job for Vladimir Putin, a job that’s worth €600,000 a year? Or is it a desperate attempt not to end up on the list of people sanctioned by the EU, whose freedom of movement and travel is severely restricted? Or the former chancellor knows something we don’t, because in the interview with the New York Times, in which he said, among other things, “fare mea culpa is not like me,” he said that he would have let down Rosneft just in case Russia stopped supplying energy to Europe?
It is curious that Rosneft made the announcement and not the former chancellor, who made no statements or comments. And coincidentally, the decision was announced just after the European Parliament voted by a large majority to extend sanctions to the former chancellor as well, like any other oligarch or Putin supporter. A unanimous decision by the member states would of course be required for implementation, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz has already spoken out against such a measure, which he describes as “unnecessary”. But the timing raises doubts. Schröder’s divorce from Rosneft also follows Thursday’s decision by the German Bundestag to strip him of the office and staff that would have been his entitlement as former chancellor. The official justification was that he no longer needed it as he had not performed any activity related to his previous public function for a long time. The Christian Democratic opposition also wanted to cut their pensions and only leave them to take care of themselves. But it seems unlikely that the split from Rosneft could be an attempt to save the pension, as the Russians’ prerogative was more than double that of the former chancellor. However, Schröder has commissioned a renowned lawyer from Hanover to examine the legality of the measure decided by the Budget Committee of the Bundestag.
In any case, Schröder has not yet officially released all the shackles and ties that bind him to the Kremlin: Nothing has actually become known about his intentions regarding the other two posts, those of a member of the Nord Stream control bodies and Nord Stream 2, both of which are Russian -German gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea, the first still operational, the second completed but never operational and permanently blocked by Germany in protest of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Silence on Gazprom’s supervisory board, which Schröder is expected to join in June. Schröder has always defended his posts in Moscow’s service with political motives, in order to ensure a secure supply for Germany, and has described himself as representing German interests. However, he has always denied his personal conflicts of interest and the negative political consequences of Berlin’s excessive energy dependence on Russia. Above all, he never wanted to distance himself from Vladimir Putin, with whom he has a personal friendship. In an interview with the New York Times, he said that by doing so he would “lose the confidence of the only man who can end the war”. The fall of the former chancellor will continue and, above all, his party, the SPD, will be torn apart over its attitude towards one of its myths. No one in Social Democracy is more willing to say a word for him, but no one has the courage to initiate expulsion proceedings. The maximum that the leadership, most recently the co-chair Saskia Esken, urges is to ask him to spontaneously leave the party. The renunciation of honorary citizenship of Hanover and especially that of the honorary partner of his favorite club Borussia Dortmund has already cost Schröder a lot. In both cases, however, she has taken steps to avoid exit procedures that are already ongoing. As long as the SPD does nothing official, it seems impossible that Schröder, who has spent his entire life in social democracy and made history, resign spontaneously.
May 21, 2022 (Modification May 21, 2022 | 5:19 PM)
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