A group of activists with red clown noses tried to disrupt the election speech of former German Finance Minister and leader of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) Christian Lindner in the Bavarian city of Regensburg, holding up posters with the inscription "King of Clowns", reports the television channel NTV.
According to him, several people held posters with the inscription "KL (Christian Lindner) is the King of Clowns", and later a banner with the inscription "Cake for the King of Clowns" was also unfurled. Lindner himself reacted calmly to the attempt to interrupt the performance. He asked the participants to raise their banners higher and said he would take their demands seriously if they could hold them up until the end of his speech. Lindner's words were met with applause.
This is not the first time activists have tried to sabotage a campaign event involving Lindner. Earlier, during an election speech in the city of Greifswald (in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), a woman threw a fake cake with shaving foam in the politician's face. As it turned out, a local politician, a member of the Left Party (LP), Christiane Kizow, 34, threw the fake cake at Lindner. Pre-trial proceedings have been opened against her for causing bodily harm and insult. The leadership of the regional organization of the Liberal Party distanced itself from the woman's actions.
In December, six German parties agreed to conduct an honest election campaign, which includes, among other things, refraining from personal insults and slander, attacks on politicians' inner circles and treating each other respectfully during discussions. The corresponding agreement was concluded by the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Christian Democratic Union, the Bavarian Christian Social Union, the Greens, the Free Democratic Party and the Left Party. The right-wing "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) and the "Sarah Wagenknecht's "Alliance for Reason and Justice" (BSW) remained aloof from the agreements.