It was supposed to be the European Central Bank’s first calm meeting in months. President Mario Draghi was to explain how smoothly the bank’s stimulus program was going. But just as he began his press conference, a protester startled participants by running from the first row of seats and leaping onto the table in front of him. She hurled what appeared to be confetti and screamed, “End the ECB dictatorship!” Security guards dragged her off the stage in seconds and took Draghi into a side room.
Mr. Draghi returned minutes later looking a little shaken but resumed his statement and then answered questions for an hour, at the end earning a small round of applause from the press corps for his composure. An ECB statement said “the activist registered as a journalist for a news organization she does not represent.” The bank said she went through a metal detector and x-ray of her bag before entering.
Some left—wing activists have accused the ECB of enforcing budget austerity measures on eurozone countries, such as Greece, that are under financial bailout programs. EU leaders have also been criticized for appointing too few women to its top leadership positions.
Mr. Draghi, who didn’t comment on the disruption, said in his statement that the bank was determined to pursue its existing bond—buying 1.1 trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) stimulus program “until the end of September 2016 and, in any case, until we see a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation.” Inflation at minus 0.1 percent is way below the ECB’s aim of 2 percent, and a sign of a weak economy.
