Chancellor threatened? The man who hugged Scholz was under the influence of drugs

First he hugged the chancellor, then he comfortably smoked a cigarette in his car: what sounds absurd actually happened in Frankfurt on Wednesday.

After the unplanned hug of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on the tarmac at Frankfurt Airport, more details about the incident came to light. Accordingly, the news magazine “Spiegel” reported, citing the investigators’ initial findings, that the arrested man was a 48-year-old Greek. According to a quick test, he was under the influence of drugs.

The man made a confused impression during the interrogation, the report goes on to say. He is said to have said to Scholz that he wanted to “make some music” with him. There was initially no official confirmation of this.

The 48-year-old had unnoticed joined the Chancellor’s convoy on Wednesday evening on the way from the European Central Bank to the airport and passed the security barrier unhindered. When Scholz left his car on the tarmac, the man walked up to him, shook his hand and hugged him, as confirmed by the federal government.

It was only when the man ran towards Scholz that Scholz’s bodyguards and other police officers who were present became aware, as reported by the “Bild” newspaper. A BKA spokeswoman told the newspaper that no one was injured and that the man was “arrested by the federal police at Frankfurt Airport without resistance.”

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit confirmed the report on Friday as “essentially correct”. State police and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) are now examining “what went wrong”. The “Bild” reported, citing information from the Chancellery, that for Scholz it was “not a major incident in the specific situation”, “just a surprisingly warm hug”.

Deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner said in Berlin that the chancellor “never felt threatened”. Nevertheless, there were of course questions that would now be clarified, he said. After all, “worse could have happened”.

There was “a handshake and then a hug”, but “beyond the physical contact” there was no exchange between the Chancellor and the man involved, Büchner said. Scholz gave a speech in Frankfurt on Wednesday evening to mark the 25th anniversary of the ECB.

“Such an incident must not happen,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on the sidelines of an appointment at the German-Czech border. “The parties involved will now work out very precisely what caused it, where mistakes happened, in order to avoid them in the future.”

“We take the process very seriously,” said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior. As usual, the Federal Criminal Police Office was responsible for protecting Scholz, and in the case of Frankfurt Airport the federal police and the Hessian state police were also there. So far, it cannot be said exactly “where the error was”.

According to the government, the background to the incident was initially unclear. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, investigations were initiated against the man by the responsible public prosecutor. It is also about whether his actions were criminally relevant.

According to “Spiegel”, the man drove into the security area directly behind the column of Chancellors. After the incident, he initially remained unmolested and smoked a cigarette in his car. Only when the federal police officers were alerted would he have been arrested. An investigation into trespassing had been initiated.

It is possible that the Chancellor’s security guards did not immediately realize that it was an unauthorized person and not, for example, an airport employee who happened to be present, it said. The man apparently got out around the time when the Hessian state police officers lined up for a souvenir photo. No dangerous objects were found on him or in his vehicle.