Parties – Cologne – Cologne SPD calls for former chancellor to distance himself from Putin – politics
Cologne (dpa / lnw) – The Cologne SPD, the nation’s largest sub-district of the Social Democrats, has called on former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) to immediately distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Schröder absolutely had to resign all mandates and positions and give up private business relationships with Russian companies, the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” reported on Tuesday, citing a letter from Cologne SPD chairwoman Christiane Jäger.
With the massive Russian attacks on civilian targets in Kyiv and Kharkiv, among others, the long overdue distance from Putin’s regime has reached an ultimate urgency. “Anyone who is still loyal to the President of Russia under these circumstances has nothing to do with our understanding of social democratic values,” wrote Jäger. Against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the pressure on the classic Chancellor had increased in recent days.
Especially at the big peace demonstration on Shrove Monday in Cologne, the representatives of the Cologne SPD were repeatedly asked about Schröder’s connections to Putin and his current involvement with Rosneft, Gazprom and the Nord Stream pipelines. But also to older statements like that of Putin as a “flawless democrat,” wrote Jäger. “We distance ourselves from this in all clearness.”
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