Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who remains a member of the SPD, attended a reception at the Russian Embassy on Tuesday evening to mark Victory Day. Schroeder was present there with his wife So-yeon Schroeder, the Berliner Zeitung reported on Wednesday. In addition to the former chancellor, according to the report, the party chairman of the AfD, Tino Chrupalla, and his predecessor Alexander Gauland appeared from German politics.
Markus Wehner
Political correspondent in Berlin.
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Khrupalla had recently met repeatedly with Russian Ambassador Sergei Nechayev. The AfD politician, who wore a tie in the colors of the Russian white-blue-red flag, presented the ambassador with a gift – according to his own statements via Twitter "a cup with a Prussian eagle". Gauland had also visited the Russian Embassy several times for consultations in previous years.
The reception was also attended by the left-wing politician Klaus Ernst. Ernst, a former leader of the Left Party, is currently chairman of the Bundestag's Committee on Climate Protection and Energy. Until Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he strongly advocated the construction of the german-Russian Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2. In September 2022, he accused the German government of waging an economic war against Russia and, together with Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht, called for an end to sanctions against the Putin regime.
From the predecessor party of the Left Party, the former SED General Secretary Egon Krenz had appeared at the embassy. Schroeder and Krenz had last met at the funeral service for the deceased GDR Prime Minister Hans Modrow and had attracted attention for their confidential dealings. The two have known each other since 1980, when Schroeder, then head of the Young Socialists, received FDJ chairman Krenz in Bonn.
The parliamentary secretary of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast, said on Wednesday about Schroeder's visit to the Russian embassy: "This leaves me full of incomprehension." Several SPD politicians from the party leadership and parliamentary group in the Bundestag did not want to comment on Schroeder's participation in the reception at the request of the F.A. Z.