2023-08-10 16:52:10
In the dispute over the SPD anniversary of former chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Hanover’s former mayor Herbert Schmalstieg offered to accept the honor for 60 years of party membership. That’s what Schmalstieg told the German Press Agency on Thursday. “I find the debate that the local association was aiming for completely wrong.” The debate had damaged the SPD. The “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung” had previously reported on it.
The former chancellor joined the SPD in 1963 and is a member of the local association Hannover Oststadt-Zoo. The local association had already discussed this at a meeting and had not yet been able to agree whether they wanted to forgo the usual honor. At the end of August, the local association wants to discuss this again.
National association: Everyone is entitled to an honor
A spokesman for the SPD state association said on request that every member was entitled to an honor for 60 years of party membership. Various implementations are conceivable, including a personal handover by authorized members. The respective local association decides in which framework this should happen. There was no recommendation from the national association.
A date for the award has not yet been set, said Schmalstieg. His wife Heidrun Merk will also be present at the ceremony. During Schröder’s time as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, she was Justice and Europe Minister.
Schröder is considered a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has worked for Russian energy companies for years. Schröder has been criticized, including by his own party, since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
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Despite his closeness to Russia, Schröder can remain in the party. In mid-May, the Federal Arbitration Commission in the last instance rejected the applications to appeal against a corresponding decision by the SPD Arbitration Commission in Hanover as inadmissible.
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