Schroeder Loses Trial Over Navalny Interview

Germany's ex-chancellor will now have to bear the costs of a years-long legal dispute.

The Hamburg Land Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by former German chancellor and Putin's friend Gerhard Schroeder against the Bild newspaper over an interview with deceased Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, the German publication itself reported.

The interview in question is from 2020, in which the Russian politician called the ex-chancellor "Putin's errand boy who protects murderers."

Navalny also suggested that the former chancellor receives "secret payments" from the Russian authorities, emphasising that this is his personal opinion.

Schroeder did not sue Navalny himself, but demanded from Bild not to spread "unfounded allegations". He also threatened lawsuits against other publications that would reprint excerpts of the interview.

As Bild notes, the lawsuit was dismissed on March 8. Now that the deadline to appeal has passed, the judgement has come into force and Schroeder will have to bear the costs of the years-long legal dispute.

Gerhard Schroeder served as German chancellor from 1998 to 2005. After his resignation, he headed the board of directors of the company operating the Nord Stream project. From September 2017 to May 2022, Schroeder was chairman of the board of Rosneft. Western media repeatedly referred to him as a close friend of Vladimir Putin.