According to lawyer Gerhard Schroeder, despite his professional burnout, the erstwhile chancellor is nevertheless ready to face the national parliament enquiry committee in Schwerin. He'll attest on the climate and environment foundation, but only through video conferencing.
Hans-Peter Huber submitted this information to committee president Sebastian Ehlers in a letter, the content of which was sent to the German Press Agency and first reported by the weekly "Der Spiegel". According to the document, Gerhard Schroeder is to be merged with the committee on October 17 from his office in Hannover.
It'll happen, but...
In Huber’s letter, however, there are conditions. "The transmission will take place without public participation," says the document. The lawyer will attend the proceeding as a witness attorney, and Schroeder must be able to take breaks.
"If Mr. Schroeder asks for a break, it will not be immediately rejected with a request for an authoritative doctor, but we will discuss together erstwhile it will be possible to proceed the hearing, given the general humanitarian considerations," Huber wrote.
In the spring of that year, Schroeder went to a clinic in Switzerland with a diagnosis of occupational burnout and reported this illness as a reason for his absence at a planned audition in Schwerin. The committee of enquiry did not accept this and requested a medical certificate from him by 31 August.
As a compromise solution, Schroeder now proposes to be interviewed through video conferencing.
Opposition: the issue of Russian influence
After his departure from Schroeder policy, he worked for Russian energy companies for many years, including as president of Nord Stream 2 AG's supervisory board. The Investigative Commission in Schwerin deals, among others, with the closed and partially damaged Nord Stream 2 pipeline moving after the Baltic Sea level between Russia and Germany.
The opposition parties in the Schwerin national parliament, on which the peculiar committee was set up, hope that Gerhard Schroeder's direct proceeding will supply information on Russia's possible impact on the decisions of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern national government.
In early 2021, the government set up a foundation for protecting the climate and environment of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to safe the completion of the construction of the Russian-German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, which was under US sanctions. In consequence to Russia's violent war against Ukraine, this foundation was to be disbanded, but it failed to do so.
