In the capital city of Copenhagen on Friday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was physically assaulted by a man, who has since been arrested. However, there has been no revelations regarding the attackers motives. The incident took place two days before Denmark is set to vote at the EU elections. Marie Adrian and Anna Ravn, two witnesses of the incident, spoke about the assault in the local newspaper BT, claiming: “A man came by in the opposite direction and gave her a hard shove on the shoulder, causing her to fall to the side.”
The Prime Minister’s office said that the incident left Frederiksen “shocked”, but refused to provide any further comment.
The assault at Copenhagen, Denmark
According to Frederiksens office, the incident took place at Kultorvet in Copenhagen on Friday evening. The Prime Minister was beaten by a man who was swiftly arrested thereafter. Police said on X that they were investigating the matter post arrest, but refused to provide further details.
Three weeks ago, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured following an attack, where he was shot several times while greeting supporters. It was perhaps the first major assassination attempt in over 20 years in Europe. In accordance with political analysts, this attack had come amidst a heavily polarized and fragile political climate in Slovakia and across Europe.
Reactions to the Attack
European politicians expressed shock following the attack. Magnus Heunicke, the Danish Minister of Environment, called for national unity after the attack. He affirms that regardless of “political disagreements and election campaigns”, people have a responsibility to look after one another. In a post on X, he writes “Something like this must not happen in our beautiful, safe and free country. This is ugly and unacceptable. Let’s show that Denmark is much better.” Charles Michel, the chief minister of the EU, strongly condemned the attack. “I strongly condemn this cowardly act of aggression,” he said on X.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen also expressed her condemnation, calling it a “despicable act that goes against everything we believe in and fight for in Europe”.
Mette Frederiksen, leader of Denmark’s Social Democrats, has been serving as Prime Minister since 2019, the youngest in Danish history. With her party’s lead candidate Christel Schaldemose, she had earlier taken part in a European election event. The Social Democrats are the largest party in Denmark’s coalition government and continue to lead the polls. However, their support has fallen in recent years.
