Katrin Göring-Eckardt
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Schröder joins Putin for 74th birthday in Moscow, drawing sharp German rebuke
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder travelled to Moscow on 7 October and joined Vladimir Putin at his home to celebrate Putin's 74th birthday. The meeting, confirmed by Kremlin-released photographs, prompted an immediate backlash in Berlin: Chancellor Friedrich Merz was reported to be "deeply outraged," while other senior German and EU figures called the visit a disgrace and a betrayal of Europe.