The protesters took to the stage with a slogan on their skin that read “GAS EMBARGO NOW” before his security team intervened. Mr Scholz was speaking at the Federal Government’s open day event at the Chancellery on Sunday. It comes as a survey found that around two-thirds of Germans are unhappy with the work of their leader and his fractured coalition, who has faced crisis after crisis since taking office in December. Only 25% of Germans think the Social Democrats are doing a good job, down from 46% in March, according to the Insa poll for the weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag. By contrast, a record 62% of Germans think Mr Scholz – who was deputy chancellor under veteran conservative leader Angela Merkel in the previous coalition government – is doing a bad job, compared to just 39% in March . Image: Photo: AP Since taking office, he has had to deal with the war in Ukraine, an energy crisis, skyrocketing inflation and now drought – all pushing Europe’s largest economy to the brink of recession. Critics accused him of not showing sufficient leadership. Meanwhile, Russia will halt gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month through its main pipeline to the region. The state-owned energy giant made the announcement on Friday, putting pressure on the region as it tries to refuel ahead of winter. Unscheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, is deepening the energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels.
