5 ms·

I never did understand how this wasn't the scandal of the century in Germany. The logical reaction to this actions should have been to throw out all business he

I never did understand how this wasn't the scandal of the century in Germany. The logical reaction to this actions should have been to throw out all business he was involved in, IMHO. Schröder's actions were only marginally less embarrassing than Trump's Helsinki performance.

inglor_cz 5y ago
Germans are used to doing all sorts of business with Russia, including shady business. For all the speeches about values and human rights, business interests get de facto priority in German foreign policy. There are some exceptions to that such as weapons and nuclear products, but gas isn't one of them.
- brnt 5y ago
  That's the same for any country I think. It's just amazing that they are so knowingly surrendering an important component of national security in exchange as part of a frankly stupid strategy (converting house heating to gas, which as said is something surrounding countries did more than half a century ago). Were they building gas fired power plants and getting people to install electric heat pumps, in anticipation of sufficient green production capacity, I would understand it better. It's such a bad plan on many fronts, that I really struggle to understand how an otherwise pretty rational political culture arrived at it.
  - inglor_cz 5y ago
    Fear of nuclear tech contributed to this sequence of decisions. It is an old German (and Austrian) problem, which actually predates Chernobyl by at least a decade. Targeted Soviet propaganda might have played a role; Soviets were very interested in getting Allied nuclear weapons out of West Germany. Spreading all kinds of FUD about the "Atom" in general was a way to cultivate public opinion towards that goal.
outsidein 5y ago
It is a low temperature scandal, and goes into media whenever there is something news worthy. In Germany it is totally normal that former politicians switch sides and get high profile jobs in private corporations, often as influencers. Even active MdB / Abgeordnete could earn millions, they only need to publish the rough dimension of their earnings. As former chancellor, Schröder is granted a free office with Secretary in Berlin payed by taxpayer money about 0.5 M€ annually, and there are initiatives to abolish this service because of his Gazprom connection. The strong connections between private economy and government is seen as a key success factor for Germany‘s economy, called Deutschland AG in the 1970‘s (Germany PLC). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland_AG https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland_AG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der
- outsidein 5y ago
  The list of side income of elected members of the German parliament (2019) (German only) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Nebeneink%C3%BCnfte_der_Mitglieder_des_Bundestags_in_der_19._Wahlperiode https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Nebeneink%C3%BCnfte_...
- burneracct33 5y ago
  An interesting way of getting bribes. Enact laws, quit politics, work for whomever the law was dedicated for, get a large salary, do nothing basically. This type of corruption is reflected in the eu as well, and not just german ex politicians but also french. Thank god the eu is pushing the little players such as italy and spain into arresting their politicians for doing the same. Who wants competition anyway?
hulitu 5y ago
> I never did understand how this wasn't the scandal of the century in Germany. Just look at what other politicians do. Gazprom, Palantir etc. are good employment opportunities.

inglor_cz 5y ago

Germans are used to doing all sorts of business with Russia, including shady business. For all the speeches about values and human rights, business interests get de facto priority in German foreign policy. There are some exceptions to that such as weapons and nuclear products, but gas isn't one of them.

brnt 5y ago
That's the same for any country I think. It's just amazing that they are so knowingly surrendering an important component of national security in exchange as part of a frankly stupid strategy (converting house heating to gas, which as said is something surrounding countries did more than half a century ago). Were they building gas fired power plants and getting people to install electric heat pumps, in anticipation of sufficient green production capacity, I would understand it better. It's such a bad plan on many fronts, that I really struggle to understand how an otherwise pretty rational political culture arrived at it.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  Fear of nuclear tech contributed to this sequence of decisions. It is an old German (and Austrian) problem, which actually predates Chernobyl by at least a decade. Targeted Soviet propaganda might have played a role; Soviets were very interested in getting Allied nuclear weapons out of West Germany. Spreading all kinds of FUD about the "Atom" in general was a way to cultivate public opinion towards that goal.

outsidein 5y ago

It is a low temperature scandal, and goes into media whenever there is something news worthy. In Germany it is totally normal that former politicians switch sides and get high profile jobs in private corporations, often as influencers. Even active MdB / Abgeordnete could earn millions, they only need to publish the rough dimension of their earnings. As former chancellor, Schröder is granted a free office with Secretary in Berlin payed by taxpayer money about 0.5 M€ annually, and there are initiatives to abolish this service because of his Gazprom connection. The strong connections between private economy and government is seen as a key success factor for Germany‘s economy, called Deutschland AG in the 1970‘s (Germany PLC). https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland_AG https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland_AG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der

outsidein 5y ago
The list of side income of elected members of the German parliament (2019) (German only) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Nebeneink%C3%BCnfte_der_Mitglieder_des_Bundestags_in_der_19._Wahlperiode https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Nebeneink%C3%BCnfte_...
burneracct33 5y ago
An interesting way of getting bribes. Enact laws, quit politics, work for whomever the law was dedicated for, get a large salary, do nothing basically. This type of corruption is reflected in the eu as well, and not just german ex politicians but also french. Thank god the eu is pushing the little players such as italy and spain into arresting their politicians for doing the same. Who wants competition anyway?

hulitu 5y ago

> I never did understand how this wasn't the scandal of the century in Germany. Just look at what other politicians do. Gazprom, Palantir etc. are good employment opportunities.