Putin ally Gerhard Schröder heads for reconciliation with German social democrats

BERLIN — Come back Gerhard Schröder, all is forgiven.

The incoming general secretary of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) wants to reconcile with the former chancellor, Schröder, who was long declared persona non grata by the SPD’s leadership over his personal ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Matthias Miersch, who is in charge of managing the SPD’s election campaign, told German magazine Stern “yes” when asked if there should be room for Schröder in the SPD, signaling an easing of relations with the former top politician who last year survived an attempt to expel him from the party.

Schröder has faced strong criticism for his continued ties to Russia, which included seats on the boards at Russian state energy companies, and for his bromance with Putin, who he has met at least twice since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

“We must not think in black and white categories,” Miersch told Stern. “I can pay tribute to his life’s work, especially as chairman of the Hanover district, even if I have a fundamentally different view of Putin and the attack on Ukraine.”

Schröder — who ran Germany between 1998 and 2005 — “achieved a lot,” including staying out of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the all-day school program and the legalization of registered same-sex partnerships, said Miersch. Like Schröder, the new secretary-general hails from the northern German city of Hanover.

With regards to Russia, Miersch said current SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz was ready to speak to Putin, who had so far declined his offers, while adding that “talks and deterrence are two sides of the same coin.”

The SPD has long sought to walk a fine line between touting Germany’s robust military support for Ukraine and depicting itself to its center-left base as a “peace party” with a leader who knows how to keep Russia’s war from spiraling out of control.