The shirtless protest caught German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by surprise

Two activists bared from the waist up next to German Chancellor Olaf Scholes on Sunday in a surprise call for Germany’s ban on Russian gas imports, German media reports said.

They had written on the trunk “Gas ban now” (“Gas embargo now,” in English), can be seen in photos of the incident.

Two young men Scholes took advantage of the moment to pose with citizens who wanted to take pictures with him. At the German government’s Open Day event this weekend.

Germany, which relies heavily on Russian gas, has so far been unable to impose a complete ban on gas imports from the country. However, he is actively looking to distance himself from Russian power.

Security forces immediately intervened and removed them., while raising slogans; For his part, the chancellor remained undisturbed and did not abandon the pose he had adopted in the middle of the two women.

Prior to the incident, Scholz spent an hour answering questions from citizens visiting the Foreign Ministry, many of which revolved around the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.

Scholz said he hopes the first terminals Germany has rushed to import LNG will be up and running by early next year. “So our security supply issue could be resolved by early 2024,” he said.

Europe’s biggest economy faces power shortages this coming winter as Russia cuts gas supplies to Germany.

A reduction in Russian gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which is operating at only 20% of its capacity, has led the German government to take a series of emergency measures to guarantee supplies for the winter.

For now, the executive has refused to support an embargo on Russian gas because it argues that sanctions against Moscow are designed to inflict more damage on the country it imposes on Russia.

However, during a meeting with citizens, Scholz reiterated his commitment to Ukraine and said that “peace dictated by Russia” and the lack of consent of the Ukrainian government and people were “unacceptable”.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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