Merz condemns Schroeder’s visit to Putin’s birthday celebration

Berlin, Germany. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is “deeply outraged” by former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s visit to Vladimir Putin’s home to celebrate the Russian president’s birthday this week, a German government spokesperson said on Friday.

Government and SPD criticism

Schroeder, who served as chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has faced criticism in Germany and abroad over his links to Russian businesses and Putin. Those ties have continued despite Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent waves of Western sanctions.

“Putin alone is responsible for the war in Ukraine. His orders are the cause of immeasurable suffering, civilian casualties, families being torn apart, dead and wounded,” the spokesperson said. “The chancellor sees … it as downright immoral for Mr. Schroeder to attend such a celebration.”

Schroeder, 82, and his wife, So-Yeon Schroeder-Kim, who sometimes handles his communications, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The visit also drew criticism from Schroeder’s own Social Democratic Party (SPD). Its co-leader Lars Klingbeil, who is also Germany’s finance minister in Merz’s conservative-led coalition, called it “completely unacceptable” in view of the suffering caused to Ukraine’s people, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.

Roles in Russian companies

Schroeder has been appointed to several high-ranking positions in Russian companies over the past 20 years.

Shortly after leaving office, he became chairman of the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream, the Gazprom-led Baltic Sea pipeline project he had championed as chancellor. He later held senior positions at Russian oil producer Rosneft.

Earlier this year, Putin said Schroeder would be his preferred interlocutor for talks on new security arrangements for Europe. The European Union and Merz’s government immediately rejected the idea.

Last week, Schroeder joined the supervisory board of Russian retailer Hyperglobus, a spin-off of Germany’s Globus Holding that operates more than 20 supermarkets in Russia.