The German parliament, “Bundestag”, on Thursday stripped former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of some official privileges, because of his insistence on refusing to cut ties with giant Russian energy companies, Russia Today reported.
Under the decision, the 78-year-old Schroeder’s office in Parliament will be closed, at the request of the ruling coalition parties, which was approved by a majority of the committee’s members, and also ensures that Schroeder’s remaining staff will take over other tasks.
Meanwhile, Schroeder’s pension entitlement and the provision of personal protection personnel by the police will continue.
The coalition of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union, supported the abolition of Schroeder’s pension, which belongs to the party of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the “Social Democrat”.
The coalition accuses Schroeder of “harming Germany’s international reputation by continuing relations with Russia even after Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.”
Schroeder, who served as German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, refused to resign from his positions at the Russian energy companies Rosneft and Gazprom despite protests against him in the wake of the Russian operation in Ukraine.
The current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, tried to urge the former leader to quit his jobs in Russia, but to no avail.