Drone crash-lands in front of Angela Merkel in Pirate party protest
Merkel looked on apparently amused as the 40cm wide device, fitted with a camera, dropped down on the podium just metres away from her at the Christian Democratic Union event on Sunday in the eastern city of Dresden.
A small drone that hovered over a campaign rally by German Chancellor Angela Merkel before crash-landing in front of her was a protest by the upstart Pirate party, it said yesterday.
Merkel looked on apparently amused as the 40cm wide device, fitted with a camera, dropped down on the podium just metres away from her at the Christian Democratic Union event on Sunday in the eastern city of Dresden.
A week before Merkel seeks a third term in general elections, the Internet-freedom Pirates, who campaign for greater transparency in politics, said they wanted to take aim at the government's stance on drones. They had sought to convey to Merkel and Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere, on the podium with her, "how it feels to suddenly be observed by a drone", the party's deputy chairman Markus Barenhoff said in a statement.
Video: Drone makes an awkward landing near Angela Merkel at campaign rally
"For us, the use of drones within the EU's security framework is the expression of a disastrous trend."
It was also a protest against a scrapped spy drone deal which had already swallowed more than €500 million (HK$5.2 billion) before being axed earlier in the year, said the statement.