Gerhard Schroeder, who has become increasingly mocked in Germany for his pro-Russian views, has filed a lawsuit against the lower house of Germany’s Bundestag parliament that seeks to restore his privileges as a former chancellor, DPA reported.
Schroeder, 78, was stripped of his right to publicly funded office in May amid growing consternation over his refusal to distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The court file, seen by DPA, said the decision to close Mr. Schroeder and reassigning his remaining staff was “rather reminiscent of an absolutist princely state in terms of the way they were done” and should not be allowed to remain in a democratic state. constitutional country
While chancellor from 1998 to 2005, Schroeder forged a relationship with Putin that came to overshadow much of his career. Schroeder said Putin was a close personal friend and they spent long hours arguing over drinks.
He traveled to Moscow in late July for a meeting with Putin, after which he said Russia wanted a negotiated solution to the Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Schroeder’s behavior “disgusting”.
A champion of the Nord Stream pipeline that carries Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, Schroeder is chairman of the shareholder committee of Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipeline majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom, according to LinkedIn.
After intense criticism, Schroeder stepped down in May from the board of Russian state company Rosneft and turned down a nomination for a position on Gazprom’s board.