Germany's shame

 

The most serious case is Gerhard Schröder, Social Democrat Chancellor of Germany between 1998 and 2005. During his government, Schröder favored the import of Russian gas for his country's energy supply. He agreed with Putin on the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which began in April 2005, only months before the German Chancellor's electoral defeat. Weeks later, Schröder became chairman of the board of directors of the German-Russian Nord Stream AG gas pipeline (it became operational in 2011). But there was more: in 2017 he was appointed chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil company, and he recently accepted a seat on the board of directors of the Russian giant Gazprom, starting next June

Germany's dependence on Russian gas became a crisis with the punitive measures imposed on Russia by the European Union for the invasion of Ukraine. At that time, the license was ready for Nord Stream II to go into operation. The day after the invasion, the license was blocked by decision of the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz. In an interview with The New York Times, former Chancellor Schröder said: "I did what I could. At least one of the parties trusts me." According to the same U.S. newspaper, when he was Chancellor of Germany, Schröder received a salary of US$9,000 per month. Now he receives US$1 million a year for his participation in the boards of directors of Russian companies.