Germany to Remove Former Chancellor Schröder From Parliamentary Office

Germany's ruling coalition is seeking to remove former chancellor Gerhard Schröder from his role in the country's parliament amid growing criticism of his refusal to separate himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin and loose ties with Russia. 

According to a budget committee document, Germany’s three governing parties along with Mr. Schröder’s Socio Democratic Party, are planning to reassign the former chancellor’s staff in Bundestag as he is not performing suits related to his past functions as chancellor anymore.

The parties mentioned in the document, “The budget committee notes that former chancellor Schröder no longer has any ongoing obligations from his office.” According to the document, the former politician would retain his security detail, which is expected to be approved by the committee on Thursday, where the other three parties have a majority.

Mr. Schröder, who served as chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has been sacked from all quarters in recent months because of his work for Russia's state-controlled energy companies and proximity to the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Gerhard Schröder is the chairman of the supervisory board of the major Rosneft of Russia and has been nominated to join the board of Gazprom. He was also a part of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline projects.