Germany is caught between the rise of the right and Schroeder's embarrassment

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The German government is facing simultaneous pressure, after the election of a leader from the Alternative for Germany party to head the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament sparked a dispute within the ruling coalition, while the visit of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked a new wave of criticism.

The developments place Chancellor Friedrich Merz facing controversy over his party's commitment to isolating the extreme right, in parallel with government anger over Schroeder's continued relations with Moscow despite the Russian war on Ukraine.

Tobias Rausch, who belongs to the Alternative for Germany (AfD), was elected President of the Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt on Tuesday, in a development that raised questions about the possibility of him obtaining the support of representatives from the Christian Democratic Union party led by Meretz.

According to the Financial Times, the controversy focused on four additional votes obtained by Rausch in a secret ballot, amid accusations that they came from conservative representatives. Rausch said that he received support from members of the Meretz party, but the secrecy of the vote prevented the identification of the vote holders.

Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil demanded clarifications, while Merz stressed that voting for the AfD undermines his party's credibility and conflicts with its values. The dispute re-examines the rigidity of the policy of refusing to cooperate with the extreme right.

In a separate crisis, the German government announced on Friday that Merz felt "extremely angry" at Schroeder's visit to Putin's house to participate in celebrating his birthday.

Reuters quoted a government spokesman as saying that the advisor considered attending the celebration an immoral act, in light of Putin's responsibility for the war and the suffering and human losses it caused in Ukraine.

The criticism extended to the Social Democratic Party, to which Schroeder belongs, as Klingbeil described the visit as "completely unacceptable." Schroeder and his wife did not immediately respond to the agency's requests for comment.

The visit comes after the announcement of Schroeder joining the supervisory board of the Russian retail company "HyperGlobus", which operates more than twenty stores in Russia. The company said his role includes supporting its strategic business development and participating in its general management.

Schroeder, who held the chancellorship between 1998 and 2005, encouraged closer energy relations with Russia, and then held positions in companies and projects related to it, including “Rosneft” and “Nord Stream.” The continuation of these links after the Russian invasion in 2022 sparked widespread criticism.

The coincidence of the two files reveals double political pressure on Berlin, with a disagreement within the coalition regarding the limits of dealing with the extreme right, and a renewed controversy over a former advisor’s relations with Russia, at a time when the government is insisting on condemning Moscow’s war on Ukraine.