Legitimate target, or terrorist act?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a rally in the Brandenburg town of Prenzlau on Sat. in advance of this Sunday's regional elections. His party, SPD, has the position of minister-president in the state and is doing much better there in the polls (about 26%) than it did in Thuringia (6.1%) or Saxony (7.3%). SPD is only slightly behind AfD (29%) and has a good chance to form the next Brandenburg government. Perhaps this is why Scholz chose Prenzlau to declare that the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline was a terrorist act and that those responsible for it should be brought to justice in Germany. This contrasts sharply with what Pres. Petr Pavel told Právo in late Aug. For him, the pipeline was a legitimate target if the goal was to cut off the flow of natural gas to Europe and the flow of money to Russia. Scholz needs the votes right now of those who understand why their energy costs are rising and their manufacturing jobs are disappearing. Pavel can start worrying about this in a few years.