Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday party, the Kremlin reported Thursday. Putin celebrated his 74th birthday in Moscow on Wednesday. The Kremlin said Putin learned that Schröder was on a business trip in the Russian capital through Russian media reports. “The president invited his old friend to his house,” the Kremlin said, and the Russian government released photos of Schröder and Putin smiling and shaking hands. Schröder, 82, was in Moscow visiting one of the branches of the new supermarket chain Hyperglobus. The former German chancellor was appointed last week as a member of the network’s supervisory board. Schröder was visiting a branch of Russian retailer Hyperglobus on Wednesday, the same day as Putin’s birthday celebration. Image: RBC/Handout/REUTERS Hyperglobus was originally part of German retail company Globus Holding, which operates Globus supermarkets in Germany and the Czech Republic. Globus Holding also had supermarkets in Russia, but sold its stake last year and those stores were spun off into the independent company Hyperglobus. What reaction has Schröder faced in Germany for his ties to Russia? Schröder, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), was chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. Since leaving the chancellorship, Schröder has worked for Russian state energy companies and has also maintained personal contact with Putin. Why Putin turned to former German chancellor as peace mediator To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Schröder’s fondness for Russia has generated controversy, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Schröder’s tax-funded Berlin office was closed in 2022 over his involvement in the Russian energy sector, and he has also faced calls from members of his party to be expelled from the SPD. Schröder, however, survived the attempt to be expelled from his party. Edited by: Karl Sexton If you trust our team for trustworthy reporting, please take a moment to select us as your preferred source on Google by clicking here and hitting the “star” or “preferred” button, so you always see our verified news first.
