Posted on 07/11/2018 7:51:02 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
For seven years, Gerhard Schröder was the leader of the most populous democracy in Western Europe. Schröder could have easily spent the rest of his career as an elder statesman, attending summits and writing books.
Instead, Schröder — a friend of Vladimir Putin who has defended Moscow's top man as a “flawless democrat” — opted for a career in the Russian business world.
His astonishing career in the Russian energy industry reached new heights when the former chancellor was nominated for a position as an independent director on the board of Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company — and one in which the Kremlin also holds a controlling stake. “By becoming a well-paid official of a foreign, aggressive power he has damaged the reputation of the political class more than any other living politician,” said Stephan Bierling, an international politics professor at the University of Regensburg.
Yet, despite his obvious links to the Russian government which are considered embarrassing by many Germans, Schröder has recently made a comeback among Germany's Social Democrats, or SPD. The former chancellor was applauded by party members during a rare campaign speech at a party convention in June.
“What happens in the U.S. needs to be openly and harshly criticized.” Although Schröder stated he was “not anti-American,” he went on to criticize the United States' “monstrous” political influence, and he urged Germans to ignore Trump's demands to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.
Schröder's rehabilitation also fits in with the traditional patterns of German politics. “Germans on the left and the far right have always had a weak spot for Moscow — [perhaps because] the relationship seemed to be on more equal footing than with the U.S. which remains the only superpower,” said Bierling.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Wow. Is the Washington Post trying to get the reputation of being a real newspaper again?
That kind of stuff doesn’t happen here:
When Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. traveled to Kiev , Ukraine, on Sunday for a series of meetings with the country’s leaders, one of the issues on his agenda was to encourage a more aggressive fight against Ukraine’s rampant corruption and stronger efforts to rein in the power of its oligarchs.
But the credibility of the vice president’s anticorruption message may have been undermined by the association of his son, Hunter Biden, with one of Ukraine’s largest natural gas companies, Burisma Holdings, and with its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, who was Ukraine’s ecology minister under former President Viktor F. Yanukovych before he was forced into exile.
Schroeder has always been an anti American POS. He was far worse in that regard than Merkel who isn’t overtly anti-American despite her other failings. Schroeder along with Chirac tried to unite Europe under Franco-Germany hegemony via expressly demonizing America even as America was providing their defense and giving them much better access to the US market inntrade than vice versa. Then he went straight on Russia’s payroll.
By the way, plenty of German elites share his views.
Biden and his son are working for Ukraine oil company.
Europe socialist Gerhard Schröder has become American liberals’ rival.
You nailed that one. Schroeder in a remarkable five year period...triggered probably 75-percent of Germans to dislike his character and public statements. If the CDU/CSU had just found a better candidate in 2002, Schroeder would have been voted out of office.
He infuriated the SPD voters by almost immediately picking up a Gasprom job with the Russians, and in a brief one week period...the public news media dumped all mention of his name. No one would bring the job, his past credits or anything.
As badly as Merkel rates today....I think Schroeder was even more marginal. He looked like a million-Euro man and knew precisely how to carry on a public conversation...but the only thing he accomplished to be remembered over...was the total change to the welfare program of Germany.
SchröderIdiot...simply follow the money trail and see why the idiot asserts what he does......
This will please their soon-to-be Muslim overlords. Not enough to spare their lives, mind you. But perhaps enough to make it a clean beheading as opposed to being burned alive in a cage.
Time to pull our troops out of Germany and let the Krauts fend for themselves At no time in our nations history has Germany ever been our ally or friend. Never.
The Germans hope to be the gas chamber, train jail car and beheading sword manufacturer.
Russia will never attack Germany.
Germany may be its best energy and “?” customer.
The Russian Oligarchs need good customers not free loading countries for their Billionaire life style!
Well since Schroder and his Germany want to be so chummy
with Russia I see no need for America to defend Germany
from Russia. Pull out the troops from Germany. Leave NATO.
Let the Germans, France, Belgium etc. provide for themselves. Do it this week!
Trump literally verbally spanked Merkel and Germany at the initial meeting for the world to see. He took no prisoners and minced no words.
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