A motorist joined the convoy of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) with his private car without authorization and hugged him after getting out of the car without the bodyguards intervening in time. This is reported by the "Bild" newspaper (Friday).

When asked, a government spokesman said: "I can essentially confirm the report." A spokeswoman for the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) told the newspaper: "No one was injured. The person was arrested without resistance by the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport." A statement from the Federal Police was initially not available.

According to the report, the incident occurred after Scholz was driven to the airport from the European Central Bank's Frankfurt headquarters on Wednesday. The man's car could, therefore, together with the Chancellor's convoy – despite the unregistered license plate – also pass the security barrier of the airport. When the chancellor left his limousine on the tarmac, the driver of the car rushed up to Scholz, shook his hand and hugged him. Scholz let it happen, the newspaper described. It was only at this moment that the BKA bodyguards and police officers became aware of the potentially threatening situation and arrested the man.

"Bild" quoted Chancellery circles as saying: "For Olaf Scholz, it was not a major incident in the specific situation, just a surprisingly intimate embrace. In retrospect, it turns out what could have happened."

Scholz's BKA team had admitted internally that such a situation should not happen again.