While German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was busy trying to keep his coalition together, someone wearing a Halloween mask tried to break into his home.
On Sunday evening, an individual wearing gloves, a hoodie, a mask and a headlamp gained access to an apartment complex in Potsdam (a city located on the Berlin outskirts), where Scholz lives, German magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday, quoting security officials and publishing a screenshot from the building’s surveillance footage.
The person tried to break into an apartment, and then fled the scene after being noticed, according to Der Spiegel. They did not have access to the building where the German chancellor’s apartment is located.
Scholz was not home at the time of the break-in. He had his hands full trying to maintain the unity of his coalition — made up of his center-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal FDP — in a meeting that lasted around 20 hours, and ended without an agreement on several outstanding issues.
While the official residence of the German chancellor is the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, not all chancellors choose to live there.
During her time in office, Angela Merkel lived in a civilian apartment in downtown Berlin, with limited security.
According to Der Spiegel, stricter security measures are being taken after the incident at Scholz’s apartment complex.
