Leftie Social-Democrat ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is fast friends with Vladimir Putin

Schröder with President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 9 May 2005, sealing their new oil/gas partnership. 

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder today called for an end to Germany's sanctions against Russia. Of the various reasons he might have, one must be that he is a top stockholder representative of Nord Stream AG, the Russian-German natural gas pipeline company that's 51% owned by Russia's state-monopoly Gazprom.

“Germany doesn’t need a new Russia policy based on confrontation, as is being demanded by some hawks,” Schroeder said Wednesday. He said he was proud to understand Russia’s position and urged a return to “detente,” the policy of easing tension in Europe during the Cold War. [During the "cold war" the Soviet Union had tyrannical control over all Eastern European countries--is that what he wants to return to? See here.]

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The liberal Schröder and supposed traditionalist Vladimir Putin are personal friends who share family events together. This year Schröder and his wife traveled to St. Petersburg to celebrate his 70th birthday with President Putin. The Schröderrs have also adopted two children from Russia. (What is going on here? Is there something wrong with German children?) Schröder has been married four times.

Schröder was age 60 in 2004 when he and 4th wife Doris Köpf (right) adopted a Russian child from St. Petersburg, Putin's hometown; in 2006 they adopted a second one. [Could Schroeder be cooperating in a program to “Russianize” Germany and Europe? - cy]

Chancellorship

Gerhard Schröder was chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005, during which time he led a coalition government of the left-wing socialistic SPD and the extreme left Green Party. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer. Always a friend of the Greens, in 1982 he wrote an article on the idea of a Red/Green coalition which got the attention of socialist Chancellor Willy Brandt.

In its first term, Schröder's government decided to phase out nuclear power, fund renewable energies, institute civil unions which enabled same-sex partners to enter into a civil union, and liberalize naturalization law.

After the 2002 election, the SPD steadily lost support in opinion polls. Germany's high unemployment rate remained a serious problem for the government. On 1 August 2004, the 60th anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, Schröder apologised to Poland for "the immeasurable suffering" of its people during the conflict. He was the first German chancellor to be invited to an anniversary of the uprising.

Only a few days after his chancellorship ended in 2005, Schröder joined the board of directors of the joint Germany-Russia gas venture Nord Stream, giving rise to speculations about his objectivity while in office.

Foreign Policy

Schröder sent forces to Kosovo and to Afghanistan as part of NATO operations. When he left office, Germany had 2,000 troops in Afghanistan. In 2003, he was against the invasion of Iraq and refused military assistance in that war.

In addition to a friendly relationship with French leader Jacques Chirac, Schröder cultivated close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During a heated dispute between Russia and Estonia in May 2007 over the removal of a Soviet-era war memorial from the centre of the Estonian capital Tallinn to a military cemetery, Schröder defended the Kremlin's reaction. He remarked that Estonia had contradicted "every form of civilised behaviour". Consequently, the Estonian government cancelled a planned visit by Schröder in his function as chairman of Nord Stream AG, which promotes the petroleum pipeline from Russia to Germany.

The Odd Couple?

The connection between Schröder and Putin is so strong it may understandably raise some eyebrows. But it seems to me that the ground on which they meet could very well be the desire for a Socialist Europe cooperating, perhaps even merging, with a Socialist Russia, with the Nuremberg WWII narrative soundly in place and plenty of money to be made by the privileged, in league with the Jews. Does this sound a lot like the old Bolsheviki-Soviet world view? It does to me.

Above: Schröder and Putin in 2004 (before Vlad's facelift) revealing how incredibly close they are. There are many pictures like this where the German can't seem to keep his hands to himself. It's love.