A stain on the biography and the 'Moscow trace': the underside of Frank Schwabe's political career

The Azerbaijani analytical resource Fakt Yoxla has released a large-scale investigation focusing on Bundestag deputy Frank Schwabe, one of the most consistent critics of Baku on the international stage.

The publication examines in detail the manipulations in the official biography of the German politician, including the fact of his expulsion from university, and provides evidence of his long-standing ties with Russian structures and the promotion of Moscow's interests during his work in the PACE. According to the authors of the material, Schwabe's consistent position on a number of key issues demonstrates obvious double standards and calls into question the objectivity of his public statements.

1news.az presents the article:

In the well-known German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on May 26, 2013, materials by author Markus Wehner (Markus Wehner) were published under the title "A Stain on the Biography: Leading German Politicians Hide the Fact of Incomplete Higher Education." This article reported that a number of influential state and political figures in Germany were unable to complete university and, due to public condemnation and a sense of shame, hide this information in their official biographies.

One of the notable points in this article is the presence among the interviewees of Frank Schwabe (Frank Schwabe), who, despite having been a member of parliament (Bundestag) since 2005, was not so well known at the time, but in recent years his name has been heard more and more often.

Wehner found out that the note on the official Bundestag website stating that Schwabe "first studied economics at the University of Osnabrück, and then landscape management, history, political science and sociology at the University of Essen," although not a lie, represents a clear manipulation of information.

He was expelled from the university because he failed to complete a 4-year bachelor's program over a period of more than 10 years. His response to a question about this falsification: "it would be more honest to write 'without a diploma'," as well as "everyone is free to decide what to emphasize in their resume," is an indicator of how prone he is to manipulation.

According to Wehner, frequent changes to information about his incomplete education on Wikipedia indicate how much this issue bothers him. Schwabe himself admitted that employees of his office constantly changed/deleted this information. However, despite the fact that 13 years have passed since that interview, the German-language version of the encyclopedia still contains information that he was unable to obtain higher education. It seems that Schwabe and his team have simply grown tired of changing this data every time.

What else is hidden in other information presented by Schwabe as open information?

Ties with Russia

Smiling in response to the question "Where do your political roots come from?" in an interview with the official Bundestag media outlet on November 14, 2011, his phrase: "My grandfather was a member of the SPD," actually shows how deep the roots of this issue go.

First of all, it should be noted that the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), created in 1875 from small socialist parties and formed on the basis of Marxist ideas, split into two parts after the Second World War. The party in West Germany continued its activities, and the Social Democrats of East Germany, under the influence and pressure of the Soviet Union in 1946, merged with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and operated under the name Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) until 1989.

Like his father, who represented the working class of the Ruhr region (West Germany) and worked for 35 years in a coal mine, and his grandfather, Frank Schwabe remained faithful to socialist ideas and became a party member in 1991. He noted that the nomination of his candidacy by the party in the parliamentary elections for the first time was a surprise to him. With his words: "Müntefering (party chairman) and Schröder (federal chancellor) did not consult me about their plans," he hinted at the level at which he was provided with a deputy mandate. By the way, the book "The Moscow Connection," co-authored by Markus Wehner, is dedicated to former German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, known as "a close friend of Putin."

Although it is unknown exactly when his first contacts with Russians took place, during our investigation we came across a publication that he once posted on his website https://frank-schwabe.de/, but later deleted from everywhere.

Thus, in a note dated January 26, 2009, entitled "Russia and Climate Protection — Discussions of Possible Initiatives in the German Bundestag," he notes that he had already met with representatives of NGOs representing Russia at the Poznan Climate Change Conference in Poland in December 2008, and that dialogue with Russian politicians also needs to be strengthened. Although we cannot say for sure whether these individuals represented NGOs or Russian intelligence, and whether Schwabe met with Russian political figures, his subsequent pro-Russian activities only strengthen our suspicions.

After Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean region in March 2014 and against the backdrop of the West's adoption of a number of restraining measures against Russia, his interview entitled "Schwabe: Do Not Exclude Russia," given to the official Bundestag media outlet on April 2 of the same year, sheds light on a number of dark moments.

Answering a question about the complete cancellation of the accreditation of the Russian delegation to PACE, he stated that this step was wrong, emphasized the importance of maintaining dialogue with deputies representing Russia in the Assembly, and described the occupation of Crimea as "Moscow's actions in Crimea." He noted that NATO's eastward expansion had not yielded results, and stated that he sees the solution to the issue in diplomatic and peaceful negotiations. Frank Schwabe's interview as a whole is more reminiscent of the answers of Russian diplomats than of a Western politician.

It should be noted that after the powers of the Russian delegation to PACE were terminated in 2014, their right to vote was restored in June 2019. One of those who voted for the return of the Russians was precisely Schwabe. This fact is also mentioned in the report of his meeting with the Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin, which took place three months later, on September 19.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle regarding his visit to Russia, he defends the thesis that "five years later, building bridges with Russia is the right step."

During the investigation, it was also established that he indirectly engaged in lobbying in favor of Russia. Thus, in his author's article entitled "In Conflict with Moscow," published on May 15, 2019, in the German magazine IPG ("International Politics and Society"), he claims that the conflict between Russia and the Council of Europe is approaching a decisive phase and that excluding Russia from it will not benefit anyone.

We consider it necessary to note one more small detail. Positioning himself as a defender of climate and human rights, Schwabe for some reason never objected to the fact that the Russian energy company Gazprom was a sponsor of the football club Schalke 04 for 15 years (2007–2022), of which he is a fan and official member. This is despite the fact that Frank Schwabe was one of those who most actively opposed holding the UN Climate Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan as an oil and gas country.

Nevertheless, publications where his name was mentioned in connection with the Russian gas giant Gazprom were either deleted by him or he achieved their deletion. We have already observed a similar approach in his actions with information about higher education on Wikipedia.

We believe that if the first factor that forced him to remain silent on this matter is his hidden connections with Russia, then another is the fact that his former boss Gerhard Schröder, who once nominated him to the Bundestag, held high positions in companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft.

During our investigation, it also became clear that there is a sharp contrast between how Schwabe, who is now an active member of the Chamber Network of the Evangelical Church in Germany, positions himself as the right person in front of society, and his actual actions.

For example, after the club ended Gazprom's sponsorship of Schalke 04 due to Russia's attack on Ukraine, Schwabe made a post on Instagram on February 28, 2022. He expresses a "clear position" on two issues about which he had hypocritically remained silent for many years and even supported:

"I feel a huge sense of relief and even a little pride that 'my' Schalke made such a quick and unambiguous decision, despite all the uncertainty. All the more shameful that the former chancellor does not act with the same consistency."

Or, after the entire West opposed Russia, Schwabe, forced by circumstances, also begins to say something against Russia.

If we compare these actions of his with well-known personalities of the Christian world, only the apostle named Judas, who betrayed Jesus Christ, comes to mind.