A man attacked Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the capital on Friday, two days before Danes vote in the European Parliament elections, the prime minister’s office said. The man was arrested, it added.
Frederiksen “was hit by a man” Friday evening on Kultorvet, a square in Copenhagen, the office said in a statement that day. “The Prime Minister is shocked by the incident,” it said, adding that it had no further comment.
A local resident told Reuters that the prime minister walked away following the assault and had no external signs of harm.
Several Danish lawmakers and European officials expressed their shock over the incident and denounced the violence.
“I condemn this despicable act which goes against everything we believe and fight for in Europe. I wish you strength and courage — I know you have plenty of both,” said E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on X.
“Mette is naturally shocked by the attack. I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her,” Danish Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke said on X. “Something like this must not happen in our beautiful, safe and free country.”
The attack was the latest incident of violence during the European election cycle. E.U. citizens are voting in the European Parliament elections from Thursday to Sunday, with Denmark voting on the election’s last day.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously wounded after a gunman shot him several times on May 15. Fico made his first public appearance since then on Wednesday, saying in a message that he forgave his attacker despite the pain he caused. Fico added that the gunman was a “activist of the Slovak opposition” and that “the opposition will have to think about this.”
German social democrat Matthias Ecke of the European Parliament was also attacked while putting up campaign posters in Dresden in May, causing him to have to undergo surgery, his party said. “In a democracy, no one should be afraid to express their opinion!” Ecke tweeted along with a selfie of himself with a black eye.
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The incident triggered a meeting of Germany’s state interior ministers to push for tougher punishments for politically motivated violence against campaigners.
On Tuesday, a far-right Alternative for Germany party politician was stabbed by a boxcutter-wielding suspect who was damaging election posters in Germany’s southwestern city of Mannheim, local police said.
