Without his lobbying for the Kremlin, the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 would not have been built. Immediately after his electoral defeat in 2005, the social democrat joined Nord Stream’s supervisory board. His good contacts in German politics, but above all with other European politicians, turned out to be pure gold for Moscow.
“With Schröder on the payroll, the Russians have also bought direct access to a long line of high-ranking European social democrats,” writes Danish investigative journalist Jens Hovsgaard. He had meticulously researched the origins of Nord Stream 1. Schröder, whom the imprisoned dissident Alexej Navalny only disparagingly describes as “Putin’s errand boy”, is said to collect around 500,000 euros a year.
“Schroederization”
And the example of Schröder should be used to draw a line, British Tory MP Tom Tugendhat also demands: “We must stop the Schröderization of Europe’s elites.” Because these elites, with their far-reaching networks, now serve interests “who want to undermine the West with their authoritarian powers.”
Recruited by Schröder and also on the Kremlin’s payroll, there are said to be two other former social democratic ex-government heads: Sweden’s ex-prime minister Göran Persson works for a communications company that lobbies for Nord Stream paid for by Moscow.
Finland’s Ex-Premier Paavo Lipponen also gets involved as a consultant and lobbyist for Nord Stream. Incidentally, both Scandinavian ex-prime ministers had criticized the pipeline during their reign before the construction of Nord Stream. They feared serious damage to the environment.
The last one so far is the French Ex-Premier Francois Fillon joined the circle of influential supervisory boards in Russia.