Berlin Germany — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was attacked by a man in a square in the capital, Copenhagen, state news agency Ritzau reported Friday.
Copenhagen police confirmed on Platform X that one person was arrested in the case and that an investigation was underway.
There was no immediate information on how the assault occurred or if Frederiksen was injured in any way. The prime minister’s office told Danish state broadcaster DR that it was “shocked” by the incident.
The reports gave no further details and it was unclear in what context the attack occurred, but it came just before Sunday’s European Union parliamentary elections. Frederiksen has been campaigning with the Social Democrats’ leading EU candidate, Christel Schaldemose. Media reports said the attack was not related to a campaign event.
News of the attack was met with shock and condemnation by politicians across the political spectrum within the Scandinavian country and abroad.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated that “an attack on a democratically elected leader is also an attack on our democracy,” while Charles Michel, president of the European Council, condemned what he called “a cowardly act of aggression.” “.
Violence against politicians has become an issue in the run-up to the EU elections. In May, a candidate for Germany’s center-left Social Democrats was defeated and was seriously injured while campaigning for a seat in the European Parliament.
In Slovakia, the election campaign was overshadowed by an attempt to murder populist Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15, sending shockwaves through the nation of 5.4 million people and reverberating across Europe.
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