Parliament - Committee of Inquiry summons former Chancellor Schröder as a witness
Investigation Committee of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Parliament for Clarification of Events Surrounding the Climate Protection Foundation
The Investigation Committee of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Parliament for Clarification of Events surrounding the Climate Protection Foundation intends to hear Minister-President Manuela Schwesig and former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (both SPD) as witnesses. The committee held a non-public session on Friday and, based on an inter-factional motion, decided to hear Schroeder as chairman of Nord Stream 2 as a witness. The exact dates for all witness hearings will be decided at a later time, the SPD fraction announced after the session.
"In today's session, we have decided on numerous other witnesses. At the suggestion of our fraction, all five democratic factions of the coalition and opposition have agreed in advance on a joint witness list," said Thomas Krüger, chairman of the SPD fraction. This list includes former or current members of the state government or former or current state secretaries.
On the list are: Till Backhaus (SPD), Minister of Agriculture, Lorenz Caffier (CDU), former Interior Minister, Patrick Dahlemann (SPD), Chief of the State Chancellery, Birgit Gärtner, former State Secretary in the Justice Ministry, Harry Glawe (CDU), former Economics Minister, Katy Hoffmeister (CDU), former Justice Minister, Thomas Lenz, former State Secretary in the Interior Ministry, Christian Pegel (SPD), current Interior Minister and former Energy Minister, Torsten Renz (CDU), former Interior Minister, Stephan Rudolph, former State Secretary in the Economics Ministry.
The foundation was founded at the beginning of 2021 to enable the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline bypassing US sanctions, which was also successful. The special investigation committee was initiated by the opposition to clarify, among other things, how great the influence of Russian donors was on the former SPD/CDU state government during the foundation's establishment. Nord Stream 2, a subsidiary of the Russian state conglomerate Gazprom, was the largest donor to the Climate Protection Foundation MV with 20 million Euros.
- The Investigation Committee plans to question both Manuela Schwesig, the SPD's current Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Gerhard Schröder, a former Federal Chancellor and SPD member, as witnesses due to their involvement with the Nord Stream 2 project and the Climate Protection Foundation.
- In response to an inter-factional motion, the Investigation Committee has decided to invite Gerhard Schröder, who served as the chairman of Nord Stream 2, to testify before the committee.
- Manuela Schwesig and Gerhard Schröder are not the only individuals on the committee's witness list, as it also includes former and current members of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state government and their staff, such as Till Backhaus (SPD) and Christian Pegel (SPD), who have served in various ministries.
- The CDU, which is the opposition party in the state parliament, played a significant role in initiating the special investigation committee to investigate the influence of Russian donors on the SPD/CDU state government during the establishment of the Climate Protection Foundation, which received a significant donation from Nord Stream 2, a subsidiary of the Russian state conglomerate Gazprom.
- The opposition in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Parliament launched the special investigation committee to clarify the extent of the influence Russian donors had on the former SPD/CDU state government during the foundation's establishment and the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
