Friend of Putin – Germany is ashamed of Gerhard Schröder

– Germany is ashamed of Gerhard Schröder

By refusing to give up his mandates as a lobbyist in Russian gas, the former German Chancellor appears to be the last Western support for Vladimir Putin.

Christophe Bourdoiseau – Berlin

Posted today at 5:59 p.m.

Gerhard Schröder between Vladimir Putin and former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a ceremony in the Kremlin, May 7, 2018. The former chancellor refuses to choose sides in the war in Ukraine.

ALEXEY DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP

The noose is tightening around Gerhard Schröder. Unlike other former European leaders like the Frenchman François Fillon or the Italian Matteo Renzi, the former German social-democratic chancellor still refuses to resign from his posts in the Russian energy groups. His closest friends are appalled by his silence on Vladimir Putin, with whom he has had friendly relations for twenty years.

Schröder described the dictator in 2004 as a “pure democrat”. Of course, he called for the fighting to stop. “The war and the suffering of the Ukrainian people must end,” he said on his LinkedIn account. But his declaration is all the more cynical as he continues to relativize Putin’s responsibility by pointing the finger at Western chancelleries: “There were mistakes. On both sides,” he said, refusing to choose sides. Prior to the invasion, Schröder accused Kiev of provoking Russia with “boot noises”.