Matthias Miersch became the new Secretary General of Scholz’s party. He supported Schröder, who is friends with Putin

The new Secretary-General of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), which leads the country’s ruling coalition, is 55-year-old Matthias Miersch. He is an associate of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has a close friendship with Vladimir Putin.

This information was reported by the German tabloid Bild.

Miersch and Schröder began their political careers together in Hanover, where Miersch led the local SPD branch.

In April, Miersch was one of the few Social Democrats who attended Schröder’s 80th birthday celebration. Speaking to the press, Miersch addressed Schröder’s favorable stance towards Russia, which has led some party members to attempt to expel the former chancellor from the SPD since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

“We had two proceedings against Gerhard Schröder. Both confirmed that his behavior did not harm the party. The case is closed from a legal perspective. I can appreciate his life’s work as a whole, particularly as chair of the Hanover SPD, even if I have a fundamentally different view of Putin and the attack on Ukraine,” Miersch stated.

Previously, the leader of Germany’s opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), declared that Ukraine would never be able to defeat Russia. It was also recently reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is open to negotiations with Putin if they lead to peace in Ukraine.