In a major interview, Gerhard Schröder spoke out in favor of putting Nord Stream 2 into operation. He also pointed out the otherwise impending distribution battles in the event of gas shortages. The former Chancellor described the Ukraine war as a “mistake”. Nevertheless, he did not want to distance himself from Putin.
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) recommended that the federal government alleviate the acute gas bottleneck in Germany by using the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Schröder, who now acts as the head of the board of directors of the controversial gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, said in an interview with STERN and RTL/ntv: “The simplest solution would be to put the Nord Stream 2 pipeline into operation. She is ready. If things get really tight, there is this pipeline, and with both Nord Stream pipelines there would be no supply problem for German industry and German households.”
In response to the reply that the federal government had clearly ruled out operation after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Schröder said: “If you don’t want to use Nord Stream 2, you have to bear the consequences. And they will also be huge in Germany. Anyone who heats with gas is already feeling the effects… It’s uncomfortable for us sitting here, but it’s manageable. But for a lot of people who have to count every cent, it’s going to be really tough. And then people in Germany will ask: Why are we actually doing without the gas from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline? Why? In my political career, I wasn’t always a pure market economist, but one of the principles of the market economy is quite simple: if supply is reduced, then prices go up.”
Schröder did not share Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s assessment that there could be a risk of popular uprisings in Germany if gas became scarce and really expensive: “Oh nonsense, popular uprisings.” come to us. I don’t want to be in the shoes of those responsible.” Schröder also addressed the fact that the head of the Federal Network Agency, a civil servant, could soon decide who gets gas in the industry, for example, and who doesn’t: “It’s going to be a situation , as we have never had in Germany. If BASF runs out of gas, for example, BASF will have a big problem, but we Germans have a huge one. Entire branches of industry such as glass or paper are on the brink.”
Schröder doesn’t believe in the EU Commission’s suggestion that other European countries should significantly reduce their gas consumption in order to help Germany. He said: “One has to come up with an idea like that – that other European countries should now save energy to help us Germans. They tell us exactly what we said to the southern countries during the euro crisis: you lived beyond your means. Incidentally, when I was chancellor, we Germans were only 35 percent dependent on Russian gas. At the end of Mrs. Merkel’s era, our dependency was significantly higher.”
With regard to the Ukraine war and an end to the military conflict, the former chancellor stated that he could imagine that Russian President Vladimir Putin would want to achieve a “negotiated solution”. For this, however, both sides of the war would have to make concessions. “And it is a big mistake to denigrate possible concessions by Ukraine as a Russian ‘dictated peace’ in advance,” warned Schröder. “Who seriously believes that a Russian president could ever give up Crimea again?”
The former Chancellor judged Russia’s attack on Ukraine to be a “mistake”. However, he refrained from further distancing himself from the Kremlin boss. “But would personal distancing from Vladimir Putin really do anyone any good?”
