Bezirksparteitag: SPD Oberpfalz fordert Schröder-Rauswurf

The Bavarian SPD regional party Oberpfalz has demanded that former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder be expelled from the party. This decision was made unanimously at the regional party conference, according to party chair Carolin Wagner. The call for action stems from Schröder's recent comments praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, dubbed a "war hawk" by the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper.

An accompanying proposal to the SPD party executive requests an immediate new party disciplinary procedure against Schröder, aiming for his expulsion from the party, with a focus on his supervisory board position at the Russian trade giant Hyperglobus and his birthday visit to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. Wagner emphasized that Schröder's close association with Putin represents a "serious contradiction to the basic values of Social Democracy" and damages the party's credibility.

The report stated that Wagner, also a Bundestag representative, could not understand why Schröder displayed such blatant support for Putin while simultaneously working to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Schröder, a frequent interlocutor with Putin since his chancellorship from 1998 to 2005, has previously condemned the Russian invasion but maintains his friendship with the Russian leader. A first party expulsion procedure against him failed in 2023.