NP -

[David Morris]

https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/gerhard-schroeder-casts-a-dark-shadow-over-berlin-s-foreign-policy-a-b1429dea-5db2-401e-b11d-71e22ee9d076

In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Germany is cutting a rather
ambivalent figure. Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is one major reason
why. Can the Social Democrats and the country find its way out from under
his shadow?
At one point, Schröder had almost achieved hero status within the SPD. But
it has been all downhill ever since he was voted out of the Chancellery.  .
First, his party began questioning the welfare reforms that Schröder had
introduced while chancellor, and then Schröder began his love affair with
Russia. Over the years, he has gone from being a source of irritation for
the SPD to a downright curse. These days, 77-year-old Schröder is a danger
to his party, to current Chancellor Olaf Scholz and, according to some, to
the entire country. […]  At a time when the West is circling all the
diplomatic wagons at its disposal in a combined effort to prevent Putin
from marching into Ukraine, the former German chancellor is firing
rhetorical barbs at Kyiv and seeking to deepen his business ties with
Russia. Together with his friends on the Baltic Sea coast, Schröder is now
trying to save the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the suspension of which is
widely seen as a key element in the package of sanctions aimed at
curtailing Putin’s aggression.