Berlin, May 5, (dpa/GNA) – Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has no right to an office in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, the Berlin Administrative Court decided on Thursday, rejecting a complaint by the Social Democrat (SPD) politician.
In May 2022, the Bundestag’s budget committee revoked some of his special rights and closed down his office. Schröder’s complaint was aimed at having his office and staff made available to him again. In his view, the decision was unlawful, but the court saw it differently.
Schröder was not present at the hearing. It is the first such case in German history. The ruling will likely be appealed. The politician was chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and party leader of the SPD from 1999 to 2004.
Before he was deprived of some of his special rights, he had come under massive criticism because of his connections to Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin – even from within his own party. Several of his staff had already resigned from their posts after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In the motion passed by the budget committee, however, Schröder’s connections to Russian corporations or Putin had not been mentioned. The reason given was that the former chancellor was no longer fulfilling any obligations in connection with his former activities.
GNA