The displeasure of the party left over the 100 billion package for the Bundeswehr and Schröder’s personnel again occupied the SPD on Thursday. The SPD leadership is now increasing the pressure on the former chancellor.
Since Olaf Scholz’s government speech on the war in Ukraine last Sunday in the Bundestag, the party has been seething. The 100 billion special funds he had announced for the rearmament of the Bundeswehr had caught the comrades on the wrong foot, many complained that they had not been informed about these plans beforehand.
It went so far that the party left announced that it would not support the rearmament of the Bundeswehr. Juso Chairwoman Jessica Rosenthal said there was no point in sinking more billions of euros into a black hole and she believes that money for the Bundeswehr has so far been used ineffectively.
Now there was a turnaround. After a meeting of the party leadership on Thursday, the participants assured that they were now closed. The SPD member of parliament Micheal Roth emphasized: “We support the course of the chancellor. We live in times of war and we have to put up a stop sign.”
Gerhard Schröder was also a topic that some SPD politicians would now like to throw out of the party. A few days ago, SPD chairmen Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken called on the former chancellor to give up all his Russian jobs and to distance himself from Putin. Gerhard Schröder has not yet responded.
Now Klingbeil and Esken are asking the former party leader and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to do the same in a letter. A “prompt” answer is expected, said Klingbeil on Thursday after the meeting of the party executive. He did not name a specific date. If Schröder does not comply with the request that was made last Saturday, advice will be given on how to proceed. Schröder was “completely isolated in social democracy,” said Klingbeil. There is no longer anyone on the party executive who “even remotely approves or justifies” Schröder’s behavior.
Taxpayers’ Association calls for the end of privileges for Schröder
Specifically, it is about Schröder’s posts at the Russian energy companies Nord Stream 1 and 2 and at the oil company Rosneft, where he is the head of the supervisory board. In addition, Schröder is to take on a supervisory board position for Gazprom. He is also considered a longtime friend of President Vladimir Putin.
In the SPD there is already a first application for Schröder’s party expulsion, which has been made by the Heidelberg local association. The arbitration will be carried out by the Hanover sub-district, said Klingbeil on Thursday.
There is also dissatisfaction with his equipment as former chancellor, which is paid for by the taxpayer. In 2021, the costs for his former chancellor’s office and the employees who no longer want to work there amounted to 400,000 euros. On Thursday, the taxpayers’ association also called for an end to these privileges for Schröder. The equipment of former Federal Chancellors is not regulated by law. The funds come from the budget of the Federal Chancellery and are approved by the Budget Committee of the Bundestag. It is therefore up to the Bundestag to withdraw the appanage from Schröder.
Greens are at odds with the coalition’s change of course
But not only the SPD is currently struggling with the course because of the war in Ukraine. The 100 billion fund is also a political challenge for the Greens. Just delivering weapons was unthinkable for the party a few weeks ago. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck has now admitted, however, that safety comes before climate protection. Some of the traffic light plans in the coalition agreement have been wiped off the table for the time being in view of world events.