Pressure mounts on Schroeder

Frankfurt: Pressure was growing Monday inside Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) to expel their former leader and ex-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over his apparent refusal to renounce his business ties with Russia.

Schroeder, who is a lobbyist for Russian gas and has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, sparked fresh outrage following remarks in an interview with the New York Times published this weekend. Unrepentant over his business links with Russia, he told the newspaper: "I don’t do mea culpa. It’s not my thing."