Copenhagen: Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was assaulted by a man on a square in the capital of Copenhagen on Friday, her office said.
Copenhagen police confirmed that one person had been arrested following the assault and an investigation had been launched.
The prime minister was said to be “shocked”, but a witness said she was able to walk away and had no outward signs of harm.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.Credit: AP
“Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was beaten on Friday evening at Kultorvet in Copenhagen by a man who was subsequently arrested. The prime minister is shocked by the incident,” her office said in a statement, without giving further detail.
Denmark’s national security and intelligence service confirmed the incident but declined to provide more detail.
“She seemed a little stressed,” Soren Kjergaard, who works as a barista on the square, told Reuters after seeing the leader being escorted away by security following the assault.
Two women who witness the incident told Danish media outlet BT that a tall young man walked towards the prime minister and gave her “a hard push on the shoulder, so she fell to the side”. They said it didn’t appear to be a mere accident: “No, not at all. It was a strong push, but she didn’t hit the ground.”
Frederiksen has recently been campaigning with her party ahead of the European Parliament elections this weekend. The elections have been dominated by a rise of the far-right.
Since the last EU election in 2019, populist, far-right and extremist parties have taken over governments in three EU nations, are part of governing coalitions in several others, and appear to have surging public support across the Continent. Far-right parties in France, Belgium, Austria and Italy are frontrunners in the EU elections.