"Now it's getting absurd"

Schilling apologizes – and says thank you

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER/Instagram.com/lena.ats)

After the conjecture and much speculation of the last few days, Green Party top candidate Lena Schilling has responded to the accusations against her in a video. She is "not perfect", she makes mistakes, she wants to "fight for a better world".

Justifications, explanations and apologies have largely dominated the presentation of the Greens' second wave of posters for the EU elections in recent days (see video above).

The lead candidate Lena Schilling, who has been confronted with public accusations about her private life and falling trust ratings, has so far appeared concerned, but has now released a statement.

"I said I always want to be open and honest with you"
"I'm sorry that I've been so out of touch personally in the last few days. There are a lot of rumors and allegations circulating right now. I'm sure many of you have heard about them. I said I always want to be open and honest with you. And I want to live up to that now. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being there," she commented on a video posted on Friday evening.

"I never thought that all of this would ever be discussed in public like this," says Schilling - and gets started.

About the settlement "that is circulating and that I signed", she says the following: "I was worried about a friend and discussed it with my closest circle at the time (...) I'm very sorry about that, because I never wanted it to be told (...) and I never wanted something private like that to be discussed in public."

Watch the Instagram video in full length here:

On the "resignation of an MP" who allegedly had to resign from her due to "harassment allegations", she says: "That is factually incorrect. He got violent with another man" and then resigned from office as a result.

"I don't understand why this is being rehashed now"
"I also think he showed responsibility - and that could be a good thing. I don't understand why this is being rehashed now."

"Thirdly, and now it's just getting absurd - I would have accused Sigrid Maurer of harassment. Sorry, but I don't know where it's coming from. I didn't say anything like that. Sigi is a good friend of mine," she says, quickly ticking off point three of her speech.

The accusations against the Green Party's top EU election candidate Lena Schilling have caused her poll ratings to plummet. In the current OGM trust index, she plummeted by an unprecedented 33 points to a trust rating of minus 50, putting her in penultimate place in the trust ranking.

(Bild: APA/Hans Klaus Techt)

What she "certainly never wanted was to offend anyone", is point 4. The fifth point of her speech deals with the accusation that she had "wanted to cause problems" for a journalist and had "gone to superiors with a complaint". She clarifies: "I never went to a boss, a supervisor, the HR department or anything like that with a complaint because I never wanted to hurt anyone."

"I think we can win a world!"
"I'm not perfect, I make mistakes and I like to learn from them. And yet: my heart is political and it beats for a better world. I want to fight for that and I will. Preferably together with you. So thank you for listening. Thank you for being there. Thank you for the support (...) That means a lot to me right now. I'm looking forward to everything that's coming, to the election campaign and a very, very exciting time with you! I believe we can win a world!"

I'm not perfect, I make mistakes and I like to learn from them. And yet: my heart is political and it beats for a better world. I want to fight for it and I will fight for it. Preferably together with you (...) I believe we can win the world!

Lena Schilling

In the big "Krone" interview with Conny Bischofberger, Lena Schilling and her mother made it clear days ago: "It's also about a lot of private things that I can't or don't want to discuss with anyone, because it's not just about me, but also about my environment, which I want to protect. That's why it's extremely difficult to get out of this situation. Nevertheless, I want to preserve what I set out to do. I want to go out into the world with an open heart and fight to make life better for many people."

It remains to be seen whether the damage has already been done or whether Schilling's statement will take the wind out of the sails of critics and bring unsettled potential voters back on board.

What do you think: can the plan succeed? Let us know your opinion in the story comments.