Gerhard Schröder

Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician he was a lawyer and, prior to becoming Chancellor, he was Minister-president of the German state of Lower Saxony. He is currently the chairman of the board of Nord Stream AG.

Schröder joined the Social Democratic Party in 1963. In 1978 he became the federal chairman of the Young Socialists, the youth organisation of the SPD. He spoke for the dissident Bahro, as did President Jimmy Carter, Herbert Marcuse and Wolf Biermann.

In its first term as Chancellor, Schröder's government decided to phase out nuclear power, liberalize naturalization laws, and institute civil unions for same-sex partners. Schröder also sent forces to Kosovo and Afghanistan as part of NATO operations. Prior to Schröder's Chancellorship, German troops had not taken part in combat actions since World War II.

In addition to a friendly relationship with French President Jacques Chirac, Schröder cultivated close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to strengthen the "strategic partnership" between Berlin and Moscow, including the opening of a gas pipeline from Russian Andrew Marino-Pipelines over the Baltic Sea exclusively between Russia and Germany.

Schröder's four marriages have earned him the nickname "The Lord of the Rings" and "Audi Man." Schröder identifies himself as a member of the Evangelical Church in Germany, but does not appear to be religious. He did not add the optional phrase So wahr mir Gott helfe ("so help me God") when sworn in as Chancellor in 1998.

As Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder was a strong advocate of the Nord Stream pipeline project, which aims to supply Russian gas directly to Germany, thereby bypassing transit countries. The agreement to build the pipeline was signed two weeks before the German parliamentary election. On 24 October 2005, just a few weeks before Schröder stepped down as a Chancellor, the German government guaranteed to cover 1 billion euros of the Nord Stream project cost should Gazprom default on a loan. Soon after stepping down as Chancellor, Schröder accepted Gazprom's nomination for the post of the head of the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream AG, raising questions about a potential conflict of interest.

German opposition parties have expressed concern over the Gazprom issue, as have the governments of countries over whose territory gas is currently piped. In an editorial entitled "Gerhard Schroeder's Sellout," the Washington Post also expressed sharp criticism. Democrat Tom Lantos, chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, likened Schröder to a "political prostitute" for his behavior. In January 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that Schröder would join the board of the oil company TNK-BP, a joint venture between oil major BP and Russian partners.