"Wir können froh sein, einen Putin zu haben"
("We can be glad to have a Putin").

(image by/ ITAR-TASS)
A warm and hearty friendship among those two man, indeed.

Yep. I wonder who of the two is the more sexy and the more smart. May be I let this decide by the dumbest of all intelligence, the artificial one.

ok ..(a slightly edited google translation of the above linked article):

Gerhard Schröder praises Kremlin chief and doyen friend Vladimir Putin in an interview. The former Chancellor is also commenting on the situation of the SPD (Social Democratic Party in Germany) - by going to maximum distance to Martin Schulz (Chairman of the SPD).

Gerhard Schröder, who has recently been chairman of the supervisory board of the Russian Rosneft Group, and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been fostering an intimate "manly" friendship among them for years. Now the former Chancellor has once again defended the Kremlin chief.

In an interview with the weekly paper "Die Zeit" (Thursday edition), Schröder criticizes the Western sanctions against Russia and puts himself behind Putin. "Compared to the US president, we can be happy to have a Putin," Schröder said.

When asked what distinguishes Putin from populists like Donald Trump or the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Schröder said: A high degree of rationality. Moreover, Schröder described the idea that Russia wanted to annex the Baltic countries as "absurd". The sanctions policy has so far been unsuccessful.

Schröder has been working for the gas company Gazprom since leaving the Chancellery in 2005. His new role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Rosneft Group caused a lot of criticism. The state-controlled company is a major supplier of crude oil to Germany.

"There are good people at the SPD like Andrea Nahles and Olaf Scholz".

Schröder also commented on his own party in the interview and distanced himself from SPD-chairman Martin Schulz - three weeks before the party congress, in which Schulz wants to return to this function. When asked whether the SPD is missing convincing leaders, he says: "The SPD has good people like Andrea Nahles and Olaf Scholz." He does not mention Schulz.

Instead, the former chancellor complains that former SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel does not receive the esteem he deserves. "The party did not credit him for the chancellor candidate, although he could have done it - so many gifted people do not exist in the SPD." But he was against the fact that the SPD now like the CSU entangles itself in staff discussions.

Heh, two German elderly housewives agree with Schroeder, although we didn't like Schroeder too much, but Schulz is just too awful a guy and Gabriel is at least somewhat upright and cute. Heh, all that is very important to elderly female German housewives voters. /s

Just saying and telling you some homegrown gossip. Have a good Thursday morning over there.