Dhe former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) is trying to get back the right to state funding for a former chancellor’s office through legal channels. His lawyer Michael Nagel announced this to the German Press Agency on Friday. The decision of the budget committee of the Bundestag to deny Schröder the funds for his office was “contrary to the rule of law,” Nagel told NDR.
The Budget Committee of the Bundestag decided in May that Schröder should no longer receive the funds for staff and equipment for a Bundestag office, which amounted to more than 400,000 euros last year. The reason given was that Schröder “no longer had any ongoing obligations from the office”. This eliminates the reason for the former chancellor’s personnel and premises. The office of the former chancellor is therefore “put on hold”.
However, Schröder was allowed to keep his pension of more than 8,000 euros a month and personal security. The retirement benefits of former Federal Chancellors and Presidents are regulated by law. The question of how much office space and employees they are entitled to, on the other hand, is only regulated by decisions of the budget committee.
Schröder was Chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and had recently come under increasing criticism for his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commitment to Russian energy companies. Some of Schröder’s employees resigned after Putin started the Ukraine war.
Schröder as a “Putin lobbyist”
Nagel now complained that Schröder had not been heard during the proceedings. He had asked in vain for a conversation with the chairman of the budget committee, Angela Merkel’s former head of the chancellery, Helge Braun (both CDU). Schröder only found out everything “from the media,” criticized Nagel. The former chancellor was thus made the “object of the proceedings”. This is a “clear violation of human dignity”.
The lawsuit was filed with the District Court of Berlin. The Bundestag said on Friday that the court had not yet sent the complaint to Parliament. Therefore, no further comments were made in the Bundestag. Schröder’s complaint became public a few days after the SPD announced in Hanover that it would not expel him from the party.
Reactions to the news of Schröder’s lawsuit varied. CSU General Secretary Martin Huber wrote on Twitter on Friday: “Schröder has lost all sense of decency.” As a “Putin lobbyist” he “definitely” does not represent German interests. The fact that he wanted “special rights at the expense of the taxpayer” was “bold”. In the FDP, opinions differed. The parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group, Stephan Thomae, said that Schröder’s office and staff benefits were “quite rightly” withdrawn. This equipment was intended so that former chancellors could still carry out tasks for the country. However, Schröder is acting against Germany’s interests.
Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), on the other hand, said it was Schröder’s “right” to have the budget committee’s decision reviewed by a court. However, he considers the probability of success of the former chancellor’s lawsuit to be “extremely low,” said Kubicki of the German Press Agency.
