Kaja Kallas said allowing Russia to choose Europe's negotiator would be unwise, adding that Schröder's ties to Russian state energy companies made him a particularly unsuitable candidate.
"First, if we give the right to Russia to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, that would not be very wise."
"And second, I think Gerhard Schröder has been the high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies so it’s clear why Putin wants him to be the person, so he would be sitting on both sides of the table," she added.
Schröder took up a role with a Gazprom subsidiary shortly after leaving the chancellorship.
Kallas also said the EU needed to agree on what it wanted to negotiate before any talks with Russia could begin.
The issue was among those discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Sunday.
(ał)
Source: IAR, Reuters