Schröder declared persona non grata at own party congress

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has declared former chancellor and party head Gerhard Schröder persona non grata at the upcoming party congress although recent attempts to kick him out of the party ultimately failed.

While former SPD heads are traditionally invited to speak at party congresses, Schröder, who in the past frequently spoke at them, is now an undesired guest for the upcoming December congress. Schröder was also not invited to the SPD’s 160th anniversary last week.

“I can no longer recognise in Gerhard Schröder the former chancellor and former party leader. I see him as a businessman pursuing his business interests,” the head of the SPD, Saskia Esken told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

The former German chancellor was also not invited to the 160th anniversary of the SPD last week over his ties to Russia.

“As long as he has this closeness to the warmonger and aggressor here, we currently have nothing to communicate,” SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert said about the non-invite.

As for upcoming party congresses, the SPD “will keep it the same line” regarding the anniversary of the SPD, Esken said.

Schröder was the German chancellor from 1998 to 2005 and held the position of party leader from 1999 to 2004. He has since worked for Russian energy companies and is considered a personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His ties to Russia and his reluctance to distance himself from Putin have caused much stir within his party after Russia launched its war of aggression in Ukraine in February 2022.

However, attempts to expel him from the party ultimately failed, with the SPD’s highest body – the Federal Arbitration Commission – finally ruling earlier this month that Schröder cannot be excluded from the party.

Even recently, Schröder demonstrated his closeness to Russia.

In early May, he and his wife attended a reception at the Russian embassy to mark the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, which caused much political backlash from the opposition and his own party.

(Oliver Noyan | EURACTIV.de)