Schröder Slammed for Chechen Election Comments

During Tuesday's summit in Sotchi on the Black Sea with Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Jacques Chirac, Schröder expressed his support for Putin's efforts to reach a political solution to the ongoing separatist crisis in the breakaway Russian republic and explicitly avoided addressing the thorny issues of vote rigging and lack of voter turn-out in the recent poll.

The vote saw Kremlin-backed candidate Alu Alkhanov win by a landslide.

Observers say the odds were stacked against his rival candidates. Although the European Commission has stated it is not satisfied with the vote and called for early parliamentary polls, Schröder insisted the elections "prove that Russia wants a political solution."

Back in Berlin, he justified his statement in a television interview by citing diplomatic sensitivity and pointing to the recent wave of terrorist violence in Russia.

"It should not be forgotten that the Russian people recently suffered terrorist attacks on civilian airlines…(the country) has repeatedly been the target of terrorist activity," Schröder said.

Double standards

His comments unleashed a storm of protest, with opposition leader Angela Merkel accusing the Chancellor of double standards.

"It is unacceptable that the chancellor is unable to tell Russia in no uncertain terms that the elections in Chechnya were irregular, and that the republic has a bad track record when it comes to press freedom and human rights," she said.

"These things need to be discussed, even among allies," she added, referring to the solid political friendship between the two leaders.

Even Claudia Roth from the Green Party, head of the government body for human rights, disagreed with Schröder's analysis.

"This was not a democratic election," she said. "The chancellor gave his view, but there are clear indications that there is a different version of events."

Green party parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt echoed her remarks.

"The vote was neither fair not transparent," she said.

Her colleague Krista Sager emphasized that the Greens have "a different view on the elections to the chancellor."