Former Chancellor Schröder now wants to radically cut the money in his own party - thanks to a legal trick

Created: 05/17/2022, 20:23

By: Hannes Niemeyer

Gerhard Schröder repeatedly attracted negative attention in the Ukraine war.

Now the traffic light apparently wants to cut the funds for him.

A legal trick should help.

Berlin – Suddenly former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was back in the limelight.

The reason, however, was anything but positive.

The trigger for his large, renewed media presence was the ongoing Ukraine war.

After all, Schröder has always been considered a close confidant of warmonger and Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin, and sits as head of the supervisory board of the Russian gas company Rosneft.

In any case, Schröder has definitely not enjoyed great new popularity since the beginning of the war.

Among other things, he consistently refuses to give up his Rosneft job.

Instead, the SPD politician tried his hand at mediation in the early stages of the war, and came under increasing criticism for his apparently unscheduled mediation trip to Moscow to see his friend Putin.

Even before the start of the war, his accusations that Ukraine was fueling the conflict by “saber rattling” were, unsurprisingly, not well received by the German population.

Gerhard Schröder: Money tap closed because of Putin proximity?

Traffic light is obviously serious

The ongoing developments surrounding Schröder – about whom companions were “seriously” worried recently – are now apparently not without consequences.

A few weeks ago it was demanded that the former chancellor's salary for his office in the Bundestag, which was supposedly hardly occupied anyway, should be cut.

Now the traffic light government is apparently getting serious - and with it Schröder's own party, the SPD.

As the

now reports, the 78-year-old could soon be turned off the money supply.

Specifically, it is about rooms and positions in his office in the Bundestag, which the federal government has been financing since the end of his term as chancellor, i.e. for 17 years.

He is officially entitled to seven employees and six offices, the costs are said to amount to 407,000 euros per year.

Apparently, the government now wants to cut back on this amount.

The final decision should already be made on Thursday in the budget committee, according to the

.

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder makes negative headlines in the Ukraine war.

Now the traffic light wants to cut his money.

© Kay Nietfeld / dpa

Gerhard Schröder's salary should be cut - a legal trick helps

However, there is a problem with the deletion of the references.

Legally, the retirement rules for former chancellors cannot simply be deleted; this would violate Article 14 of the Basic Law, protection of property.

The traffic light is therefore discussing a little trick.

Because in March, all Schröder employees resigned, apart from one person, the lavish offices are empty.

And services that are not used by Schröder can therefore be deleted.

This means that vacancies can be reduced and unused office space can be eliminated.

According to the

, the green light for the procedure was given on Tuesday.

The decision on the funding cut could then be made on Thursday.

The criticism of Gerhard Schröder meanwhile does not stop.

In Munich, posters with the former chancellor caused a stir.