Ex-German chancellor stripped of his office over Putin 'lobbying'

FILE PHOTO: Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is pictured during an interview with Reuters in his office in Berlin, Germany, November 15, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) -Gerhard Schroeder's publicly funded office is to be closed and its remaining staff reallocated amid mounting dismay at the former German chancellor's refusal to distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It is custom for all Germany's leaders to get a state-funded office when they leave government, but the three parties that make up current Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition have agreed a parliamentary motion to close Schroeder's.