Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) is suing the Bundestag for the restoration of the special rights that were revoked in May. Schröder demands that a former Chancellor’s office with employees be made available to him again, as his Hanoverian lawyer Michael Nagel told the German Press Agency on Friday. On Schröder’s behalf, he filed a corresponding lawsuit with the Berlin administrative court.
The former Social Democrat chancellor has been heavily criticized for his commitment to Russian energy companies and his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the Budget Committee did not justify the partial cancellation of Schröder’s privileges with his work for the energy companies or his attitude to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Annual personnel costs of 400,000 euros
Rather, the “equipment of former chancellors should be carried out according to the ongoing obligations from the office,” says the regulation. Apparently, the parliamentarians could not see this in Schröder. Last year, more than 400,000 euros flowed from the state treasury for personnel expenses in Schröder’s office. Schröder will continue to receive his pension of 8,300 euros after the decision, as well as personal security.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) welcomed the decision in May as “logical”. In the context of the decision, the European Parliament had spoken out in favor of sanctions against Schröder with a large majority. It was only on Monday that the SPD arbitration committee in Schröder’s hometown of Hanover rejected the expulsion of the former chancellor from the party.