Former Chancellor Schröder is not eligible for a government-funded post.

Former Chancellor Schröder is not eligible for a government-funded post.

In May 2022, Schröder was ousted from the German parliament's budget committee. This came around three months after Russia launched its assault on Ukraine. His position was effectively frozen - Schröder was no longer given funding for office space and staff. The reason? His ties to Russia. Known to be a close pal of President Vladimir Putin, Schröder also worked for Russian energy firms following the war's start.

Schröder then turned to the administrative court to overturn this decision. He used customary law and the idea of fair treatment, as his predecessors had received funding for their offices. However, this argument was dismissed by the Higher Administrative Court. It ruled that there were "no legal consequences" from this well-established practice, and that there was no legal right to such funding.

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1. Schröder decided to appeal the decision at the administrative court in Berlin, citing administrative law and the principle of fair treatment, a practice often followed by former Chancellors.
2. Despite Schröder's argument, the Office of the German Federal Constitutional Court (OVG) in Karlsruhe dismissed his claim, maintaining that there were no legal consequences derived from the past practice of funding for former chancellors' offices.
3. The German Bundestag's decision to withhold funding from Schröder, made in the wake of his ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin, was upheld by the administrative court in Ukraine.
4. The administrative court in Berlin released a court decision, echoing the Higher Administrative Court's ruling, stating that there is no legal entitlement to government-funded office space and staff after leaving the Bundestag, regardless of one's political affiliations.
5. Gerhard Schröder, the former Chancellor of Germany and SPD leader, experienced a setback in his legal battle to regain his parliamentary funding, following his controversial financial relations with Russia.
6. The administrative court decision in Germany further solidified the political isolation of Schröder, who has been a subject of controversy due to his close ties with Russian politicians and energy firms.

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