In Frankfurt am Main, a driver joined German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) convoy in his private car without authorization and hugged him after leaving without bodyguards intervening in time.
The information was released today by the newspaper “Bild”. A government spokesman said on request: “I can essentially confirm the report.” A spokeswoman for the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) told the paper: “Nobody was hurt.”
“The person was arrested without resistance by the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport,” added the spokeswoman. It was not possible to obtain a statement from the Federal Police.
Scholz let it happen
According to the report, the incident occurred after Scholz was taken to the European Central Bank headquarters airport in Frankfurt on Wednesday. The man’s car made it through the airport’s security barriers along with the chancellor’s convoy – despite the license plate not being registered.
When the German chancellor got out of his limousine on the tarmac, the driver of the car ran up to Scholz, shook his hand and hugged him. Scholz let it happen, described the paper.
It was only at this point that BKA bodyguards and police became aware of the potentially dangerous situation and arrested the man.
Bild quoted chancellor office circles as saying: “For Olaf Scholz, it wasn’t a major incident in the specific situation, just a surprisingly warm hug. In hindsight, I found out what could have happened there.” Scholz’s BKA team admitted internally that such a situation should not happen again.