Gerhard Schröder has always polarized people. For some time now, the former chancellor of Germany between 1998 and 2005 has become an uncomfortable and controversial figure due to his relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. On the occasion of his 80th birthday this Sunday, a documentary about his particular way of seeing the world and his indifference to criticism. In his opinion, those who censure him “are pathetic people.”
Two years after the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, the social democratic politician continues to consider himself a friend of Putin, as confirmed in the documentary, where he speaks of "a friendship of men" and does not want to give up his position in the Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline. 2 AG, a work that he points out as important. That this has caused him to receive fewer birthday wishes this year is something that does not keep him up at night. “My 80th birthday does not depend on who sends me a congratulatory letter. We will have a nice party and invite friends. "Whoever thinks that he should not come or does not want to congratulate me, should not come," he says when asked about the fact that the federal president of Germany and former party colleague, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has said publicly that he is not going to do so. to congratulate.
A team from German public television NDR accompanied Schröder for half a year, from a golf course in Hannover to a three-day trip to China, where he was received with full honors as if he were still in office. Over the course of an hour, “the film shows a man who only knows one truth: his own,” summarizes the German publication
Der Spiegel
.
Journalist Lucas Stratmann tries to confront the veteran politician with the criticism that has long been leveled against him, but Schröder lives in his own reality, one in which he is on the right path and everyone else is wrong. Furthermore, he affirms that he is used to criticism, which he has lived with all his life, but that he has never let it affect him. “This is my life, not anyone else's,” he comments in the documentary
Out of Order? The story of Gerhard Schröder,
in which he clarifies, in case anyone still had any doubts, that he does not need anyone's approval.
Schröder in his office on March 14, while an interview was being recorded for the documentary 'Out of Order? The story of Gerhard Schröder'.Michael Kappeler (dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images)
He answers calmly at all times, accompanied by his wife, Soyeon Schröder-Kim. Despite the fact that the Social Democratic Party (SPD) took away his office in the Parliament building in response to the maintenance of his relationship with Russia, and the frustrated attempt to expel him from the party, Schröder claims not to feel isolated and celebrates his 60th birthday. of militancy in the SPD with a group of friends in a restaurant. Among other guests is Sigmar Gabriel, former party leader, former vice chancellor and former foreign minister.
Schröder has become such an uncomfortable person for the SPD that the party has not hesitated to delete him from the list of important people on its website, as the journalist reminds him. At this point, Schröder attacks the party's general secretary, Kevin Kühnert, one of his staunchest critics, whom he describes as “a pathetic figure.” “There is a general secretary who thinks this is necessary, a poor bastard. Nothing else. Should I get angry about this? No. The SPD is bigger than these people,” declares the one who was leader of the party between 1999 and 2004. In his opinion, this speaks more against the current leadership of the party than his own and points out that the SPD should be more concerned about trailing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the polls. “I don't need the approval of the current SPD leadership.”
Defense of the reforms of the 2010 Agenda
But within his party he is not only controversial because of his relationship with Russia, but also because of the social reforms of the unpopular Agenda 2010, which took their toll on the SPD for years. Schröder continues to defend these changes even though they contributed to widening the prosperity gap, as criticized from the left. “There may have been one or two wrong developments in the reforms. But one thing is clear, these reforms have ensured that the German economy has overcome the crises well, better than expected,” he declares.
In some moments you can see the charisma that the politician had and that is still there despite the years. The newspaper
Süddeutsche Zeitung
speaks of his “old wolf smile” that has not changed, even at 80 years old, and highlights that he masterfully evades questions about his motives for continuing to support Putin. Even when discussing his March 2022 trip to Moscow, just after the start of the war in Ukraine, Schröder leaves aside the question of morality. It is not about “a moral question, but about putting an end to a conflict,” and he remembers that he made it clear a long time ago that he considers it “a historical error.”
His peculiar vision of the world is evident when talking about the recent elections in Russia, when he says: “There are free elections, that cannot be denied.” “There is also no direct ban [on the opposition in Russia]. Simply saying 'there is no democratic decision-making' is wrong,” he adds. The former chancellor ignores the fact that Putin has ruthlessly eliminated any trace of serious opposition, as if it were a trifle. Something that, in the opinion of the
Süddeutsche Zeitung,
“is incomprehensible even to those who sympathize with him.” “It is increasingly easy to forget that he was an important chancellor whose achievements continue to have an impact, from the modernization of society to the elimination of nuclear energy and the reform of the labor market, for which large sectors of his party hated him passionately” , adds the German newspaper.
For the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
, the documentary shows that the former chancellor “lives in another world and is supposed to be doing very well in it.” “Apart from him, we have the impression that the world is made of idiots,” this newspaper writes sarcastically about its criticism of politicians such as the current German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock (The Greens), whom it accuses of being “unsuccessful.” professional” by describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator. “Everyone is going down the wrong path, only Schröder knows which way to go,” the newspaper ironically says.
Schröder's determined refusal to participate in the Iraq war in 2003, which he maintained against immense pressure, spared the German army a costly deployment that contravened international law and which, as would later be shown, was justified on false grounds. If Schröder had distanced himself from Putin after the attack on Ukraine in February 2022, it is possible that he would now enjoy a retirement as a respected elder statesman. But that doesn't seem to worry him. As he himself assures, he is “a very happy person.” At least as long as he continues to live in his own world.
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