Germany: Topless protesters interrupt Olaf Scholz speech as fuel crisis deepens
The protest comes as a survey found around two thirds of Germans are unhappy with the work of their leader and his fractious coalition, which has faced crisis after crisis since taking office in December.
Monday 22 August 2022 04:27, UK
Topless demonstrators interrupted German chancellor Olaf Scholz as he prepared to speak at his government's open-door day in Berlin.
The protesters made it on to the stage with a slogan on their skin reading "GAS EMBARGO NOW" before his security team stepped in.
Mr Scholz was speaking at the Federal Government's Open Day event at the Chancellery on Sunday.
It comes as a survey found around two thirds of Germans are unhappy with the work of their leader and his fractious coalition, which has faced crisis after crisis since taking office in December.
Only 25 % of Germans believe the Social Democrat is doing his job well, down from 46% in March, according to the poll by Insa for Bild am Sonntag weekly newspaper.
By contrast 62 % of Germans think Mr Scholz - who was deputy chancellor under veteran conservative leader Angela Merkel in the previous ruling coalition - is doing his job badly, a record number, compared to just 39% in March.
Since taking power, he has had to deal with the war in Ukraine, an energy crisis, soaring inflation and now drought - all pushing Europe's largest economy to the brink of a recession.
Critics have accused him of not showing sufficient leadership.
Meanwhile, Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month via its main pipeline into the region.
State energy giant made the announcement on Friday, piling pressure on the region as it seeks to refuel ahead of winter.
The unscheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, deepens an energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels.