German man fined for hugging Chancellor Olaf Scholz at airport
The incident in 2023 triggered a security review
A German man has been fined €4,500 and given a two-and-a-half-year driving ban for breaching Chancellor Olaf Scholz's security detail and embracing him at Frankfurt Airport.
The incident, which triggered a security review, occurred in 2023 as Scholz prepared to board a plane following a celebration of the European Central Bank's 25th anniversary.
The 50-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was fined for endangering road traffic and trespassing, according to German news agency dpa.
He slipped into the Chancellor's VIP convoy before embracing him. Despite the security breach, Scholz's spokesperson, Wolfgang Buechner, confirmed that the Chancellor felt unthreatened throughout the incident.
The defendant was under the influence of drugs and was found only partially responsible for the crime, dpa reported. The man apologised in the courtroom.
At the time of the incident, a spokesperson for the Federal Criminal Police Office, who is in charge of protecting the chancellor, said: “No one was hurt. The person was arrested without resistance by the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport.”
Scholz has served as Chancellor of Germany since 2021 and has overseen Germany's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tweaked government spending, increased the country's defence budget, and contributed German military and medical aid to Israel.
His days as chancellor are nearing an end after Scholz lost a vote of confidence on December 16, 2024, and in the following snap election on February 23, 2025, his SPD lost to Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union.
The German parliament plans to meet on May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the country’s next leader, if all the parties in his proposed government approve a coalition agreement reached last week.
Merz has vowed to prioritise European unity and the continent's security as it grapples with the new Trump administration and Russia's war on Ukraine.