Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is close to Vladimir Putin, has been the subject of charges in Germany in connection with “crimes against humanity,” Justice reported on Tuesday, March 8.
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The Hanover prosecutor’s office confirmed to AFP that it had received and forwarded this complaint against several people, including Gerhard Schröder, to the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe. Competent in these matters, he must now decide whether to launch an investigation that could lead to the indictment of Gerhard Schröder or his dismissal.
The former Social Democratic chancellor (1998-2005) has been widely criticized in recent weeks for his ties to the Russian president who decided to invade Ukraine. Gerhard Schroeder, 77, has long demonstrated his closeness to Vladimir Putin. He is chairman of the supervisory board of Rosneft, Russia’s leading oil group, and the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream 2, the controversial Russian-German gas pipeline. In theory, in June he should join the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom.
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The current chancellor, Olaf Scholz, last week called on Gerhard Schröder, several of whom had recently left their posts, to step down from their posts. “I don’t think it is right for Gerhard Schröder to carry out these functions, and I also think it would be right for him to resign,” Olaf Scholz said in an interview with the public broadcaster ZDF. Gerhard Schröder, unlike other former European leaders such as the French François Fillon or the Italian Matteo Renzi, refuses to leave his post in Russia at this stage. In recent weeks, there have also been voices in Germany in favor of the removal from office, which he enjoys as a former chancellor.
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