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Have known each other for years: Gerhard Schröder
(left) joined the supervisory board of
Martin Herrenknecht
's company in 2017 - because of his closeness to Putin, Schröder is now leaving the board
Photo: Uli Deck / dpa
Dear chairman of the supervisory board at the Russian state energy company Rosneft, as deputy chairman of the supervisory board at the well-known German tunnel boring company Herrenknecht based in Baden-Württemberg - these are apparently the priorities of ex-Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder
(77, SPD).
Schröder is
increasingly criticized for his closeness to Russian President
Vladimir Putin (69).
Demands that the former chancellor give up his posts in the Russian economy are growing louder.
Schröder is not only chairman of the supervisory board at Rosneft, he also holds management positions on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline projects.
Last Thursday, Schröder called on the government in Moscow via the online network LinkedIn to end the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible.
But there was no talk of personal consequences.
Instead, the former SPD politician has now given up his seat on the supervisory board of the tunnel boring machine manufacturer Herrenknecht.
According to the company, Schröder has resigned from his position as deputy chairman of the supervisory board.
He explained the step "in a personal conversation and by mutual agreement" with CEO
Martin Herrenknecht
(79).
The departure is obviously related to Schröder's involvement in Russia.
Herrenknecht only published a statement on the war in Ukraine on Monday.
It said: "Martin Herrenknecht (Chairman of the Board) and Herrenknecht AG fully support the German government's position on the Russian war against Ukraine, which is being launched by President Vladimir Putin and will of course adhere to them, just as we have done in recent years with regard to existing sanctions and regulatory embargoes with regard to Russia or the annexed Crimea."
Football Germany distances itself from Schröder
It's getting pretty lonely around Gerhard Schröder in his home country.
It had previously become known that
Albrecht Funk
, Schröder's office manager and speechwriter for more than 20 years, is turning his back on his boss.
Other employees of the SPD politician also gave up their posts, the media reported.
On Wednesday, Bundesliga club
Borussia Dortmund
also revoked the former chancellor's honorary membership - also in response to the 77-year-old's unwillingness to resign from his positions at Russian companies as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"The president of the club, Dr. Reinhard Rauball, informed the former Federal Chancellor in a personal meeting this morning about a corresponding unanimous executive committee decision," said BVB on Wednesday.
According to the "Bild" newspaper,
Hannover 96
also threatened Schröder with being thrown out.
And the German Football Association also called on Schröder, as an honorary member of the association, to give up his "functions in Russian state-owned companies".
"Or if he is not prepared to give up his honorary membership in the DFB", as the two DFB interim presidents Hans-Joachim Watzke and Rainer Koch wrote.
That's not all: the Heidelberg Social Democrats are calling for Schröder's expulsion from the party.
In a parliamentary group meeting the day before, SPD leader
Lars Klingbeil
(44) reiterated the call for Schröder to resign his mandates in Russian companies, as the party said on Wednesday.
"The clock is ticking," said Klingbeil.
Schröder himself did not speak up - but his wife Soyeon Schröder-Kim did.
In the morning, Schröder-Kim made almost the same verbatim comment on Russia's attack on Ukraine as Schröder did almost a week ago.
Many people asked her "if my husband could talk to Mr. Putin about the war in Ukraine," she wrote in an Instagram post that was no longer accessible a few hours later.
Like Schröder before him in his LinkedIn post, she emphasized that the war must be ended as soon as possible.
"But looking to the future, the remaining political, economic and civil society ties that exist between Germany and Russia will not be severed."
CDU General Secretary
Mario Czaja
had already demanded the end of Schröder's connections to Russian companies within 48 hours on Tuesday.
Lower Saxony Prime Minister and SPD leader
Stephan Weil
and Saar Deputy Prime Minister
Anke Rehlinger
(SPD) had also asked Schröder to resign his mandates.
In addition, there are efforts by the CDU to withdraw Schröder's honorary citizenship from Hanover.
The University of Göttingen is also dealing with the case of Schröder, who studied law there and has an honorary doctorate.
"But this process is not yet complete," the university said.
The news portal "The Pioneer" had previously reported that the university was examining the withdrawal of the SPD politician's honorary doctorate on Wednesday.
cr/dpa-afx