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Gerhard Schröder
Photo: Jens Schicke / imago images / Jens Schicke
Gerhard Schröder is threatened with sanctions by the EU because of his posts at Russian companies.
The parliament in Brussels spoke out in favor of a corresponding resolution with a large majority.
The vote by the European Parliament is likely to increase the pressure on the responsible EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Foreign Affairs Commissioner, Josep Borrell, to submit a proposal for the ex-Chancellor to be included on the EU sanctions list.
If this is then accepted, Schröder's existing assets in the EU could be frozen.
In the text of the European Parliament, the EU states are now called on "to extend the list of people against whom EU sanctions have been imposed to European members of the governing bodies of large Russian companies and to politicians who continue to receive money from Russia «.
Parliament named former EU heads of government such as Wolfgang Bowl (Austria) and François Fillon (France), who recently resigned from their posts at Russian companies.
They demand "emphatically that other politicians, such as Karin Kneissl and Gerhard Schröder, do the same."
Kneissl is a non-party former foreign minister of Austria and a member of the Rosneft supervisory board.
Schröder was Chancellor from 1998 to 2005.
He then took on tasks for the pipeline company Nord Stream, Russia's Gazprom and the energy company Rosneft, among others.
Because he did not distance himself from this after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, the SPD leadership asked him to leave the party.
There are also motions for expulsion from the party.
The traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP also wants to cut the 78-year-old's office and employees (read more here).
The Budget Committee of the Bundestag probably wanted to vote on Thursday.
as/dpa