The Bundestag was supposed to receive information about the official documents from the term of the former head of the German government. However, the report from the Federal Chancellery was postponed due to the incomplete review of the archives in the SPD fund.
The German government has postponed the presentation of a report on the fate of official documents related to Gerhard Schröder's term as Chancellor of Germany. The ruling coalition in the country removed this item from the agenda of the Bundestag's budget committee, reported the t-online portal on Thursday, January 15.
According to plans, the committee was supposed to receive information about the whereabouts of official documents from Schröder's office. Earlier, the former head of the German government ordered these materials to be transferred to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, close to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), after the SPD closed his office in the Bundestag in June 2025. Thus, he did not fulfill the long-standing demands of the federal archive to hand over the official documents.
According to t-online, the Federal Chancellery is currently unable to present a report, as it has not yet completed the review of the archival fund located within the party structure. Familiarization with the materials is scheduled for the first quarter of 2026, and the report to the Bundestag's budget committee is now expected no earlier than February.
Criticism from the Opposition
"Transparency and proper archival management must be an absolute priority, especially for the federal government and the Federal Chancellery," emphasized Sebastian Schaefer, the budget expert for the Green Party in the Bundestag. According to him, the ruling coalition is expected to finally provide comprehensive explanations.
As early as May 2022, the Bundestag's budget committee demanded that the Federal Chancellery ensure the preservation of official documents from Schröder's office as a former chancellor. Subsequently, the Chancellery officially requested his office to hand over 178 specific archival folders. However, it is noted that this demand has not been fulfilled.
According to t-online, the folders contain minutes of meetings, personal correspondence, handwritten notes, and documents about meetings, including a summary of Schröder's negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These papers remain closed to the public at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
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