Ex-German Chancellor Schröder attends Putin's birthday bash
Deutsche Welle · LC · trust 31/100
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder still maintains a friendship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Tensions are high between Germany and Russia as the invasion of Ukraine continues.
https://p.dw.com/p/5O1A1 Putin has earlier called for Schröder to mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine Image: Pressestelle des Kremls Advertisement Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended Russian President Vladimir Putin 's birthday party, the Kremlin said Thursday.
Putin celebrated his 74th birthday in Moscow on Wednesday. The Kremlin said Putin learned that Schröder was on a business trip in the Russian capital via Russian media reports.
"The president invited his old friend to his home," the Kremlin said, with the Russian government releasing pictures of Schröder and Putin smiling and clasping hands.
Schröder , who is 82 years old, was in Moscow visiting one of the branches of the new Hyperglobus supermarket chain. The ex-German chancellor was named to the chain's supervisory board last week.
Hyperglobus was originally part of German retail company Globus Holding, which operates the Globus supermarkets in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Globus Holding also had supermarkets in Russia, but divested its stake last year, with those stores thus being spun off into seperate company Hyperglobus.
Schröder, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) , served as Germany's chancellor from 1998 to 2005.
Since leaving the chancellery, Schröder has worked for Russian state-owned energy firms and has also maintained personal contact with Putin.
Why Putin turned to ex‑German chancellor as a peace broker To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Schröder's fondness for Russia has drawn controversy, particularly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Schröder's tax-payer financed Berlin office was closed in 2022 over his involvement in the Russian energy sector, and he has also faced calls by fellow party members to be expelled from the SPD.
Schröder, however, has survived the attempt to be kicked out of his party.
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