Estonian lawmakers call for Schröder to lose state decoration

Estonian lawmakers have asked the country's president to strip former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, first class. The appeal follows his visit for Vladimir Putin's birthday, ERR reported.

Member of the European Parliament Riho Terras initiated the appeal. Other MEPs and 26 members of Estonia's parliament supported it. Schröder received the decoration in 2000.

The signatories regard his Moscow visit on October 7 as an expression of political and moral support for the Russian president. They also cited his work for Russian energy companies after leaving the chancellorship.

The Upper Palatinate branch of Germany's Social Democratic Party had earlier proposed expelling Schröder over the same visit. In Estonia, Urmas Reinsalu had already called for his decoration to be withdrawn in April 2022.