With the German elections less than a week away, the Pirate Party has pulled off a quite extraordinary stunt. At a campaign rally by Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Pirate flew an unmanned camera-equipped drone just feet away from the somewhat amused German leader, before crash landing it just in front of her less than happy defense minister.

With less than a week to go until the national elections on September 22, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her team are working hard to maintain their lead in the polls and extend her current eight years in power.

But despite the world’s most powerful female politician reportedly hating campaign politics, the 59-year-old still managed to raise a smile following a surprise entrance during a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) event in the city of Dresden.

Some political parties are awash with money and can afford to go on campaign trails with few expenses spared. But for the parties who are happy with votes in single percentage figures – the Pirate Party for one – getting exposure requires more creative thinking.

As Merkel and members of her team stood on stage, a small object could be seen in the sky. After hovering around for a while onlookers could see that the UFO was in fact a small drone. It proceeded to swoop down just a few feet in front of Merkel, apparently taking photos and recording video of the event.

Seconds later with its Pirate Party operator apparently having been approached by the police, the drone crash-landed into the stage and was taken away by an official. While Merkel seemed to be amused, Germany’s defense minister in the dark suit and red tie to her right looked rather less impressed.

The party later confirmed that the stunt was a protest against the EU’s use of surveillance drones.

“The objective of the mission was to convey to the Chancellor and Minister of Defence Thomas de Maizière what it’s like to be suddenly observed from a drone,” said Markus Barenhoff, vice chairman of the German Pirate Party.

The party said it also wanted to draw attention to a scrapped drone project which had already cost Germany upwards of half a billion euros before it was closed down earlier this year.

The drone’s 23-year-old pilot was briefly detained and later released, having successfully grabbed the headlines and attention of voters across Germany. It is doubtful that the U.S. Pirate Party will emulate their european counterparts with a similar stunt on home soil – life is just too precious.