BERLIN (AP) – German courts fined a man who prepared to embrace a plane at Frankfurt airport, preparing to board a plane, according to the German press agency DPA.
The court gave the 50-year-old a fine of 4,500 euros ($5,093) and a two-and-a-half year driving ban, along with trespassing, a driving ban to endanger road traffic, the DPA reported Tuesday. The man’s name was not made public in accordance with German privacy rules.
The embrace prompted an investigation into Scholz’s safety. The Prime Minister was unharmed. It happened when Scholz was returning to Berlin after celebrating the 25th anniversary of the European Central Bank.
At the time, Scholz spokesman Volvan Buchner told reporters that the German leader “didn’t feel threatened at any point.”
The defendant was found to be under the influence of drugs and only partially responsible for the crime, the DPA reported. The man apologized in court.
Scholz’s era as Prime Minister is coming to an end. The German Parliament will hold a meeting on May 6th to elect Friedrich Merz as the next leader if all political parties in the government proposed last week approve the coalition agreement reached last week.
