The Prime Minister is “shocked” after the attack

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was “shocked” after a man attacked her, according to a statement from her office.

The attack took place in a square in central Copenhagen A man approached her and hit her. Then the perpetrator was arrested.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen talk about “A despicable act that goes against everything we believe in and fight for in Europe.”

“The Prime Minister was attacked on Friday night in Kulturvet, Copenhagen, by a man, and was later arrested. The Prime Minister is shocked by the incident.” Her office said in a statement without going into details.

The police reported this A man was arrested and the incident is being investigatedBut he refused to say more. There is no information yet about the motives for the act.

What eyewitnesses say

Two witnesses, Marie Adrian and Anna Raven, told local newspaper BT that they saw the attack.

“A man passed by her from the opposite direction and pushed her forcefully on her shoulder, causing her to fall to the side.” The two women told the newspaper.

They said that although it was a “difficult attempt”, the Prime Minister did not hit the ground running.

The attack occurred two days before the Danes went to the polls for the European elections. Frederiksen, leader of Denmark’s Social Democratic Party, had earlier attended a European election event with her party’s main candidate, Christel Schaldmus, Danish channel TV2 reported.

The Social Democratic Party is the largest party in the coalition government in Denmark. They still lead in the polls, but their support has declined significantly in recent months.

Danish Minister of the Environment Magnus Heunicke He told X: “Mette is of course shocked by the attack. I must say everyone close to her is shocked.”

President of the European Union Charles Michel For his part, he stated to X that he was “angry.” “I strongly condemn this cowardly attack.” He said.

The attack comes a few days after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was killed by several bullets while greeting his supporters. He survived and underwent surgery.

Who is Frederiksen?

Frederiksen (46 years old) became Prime Minister in 2019 after assuming the leadership of the center-left Social Democratic Party four years ago. The youngest Prime Minister in the history of Denmark.

Shortly after, he got into a dispute with then-US President Donald Trump after he rejected his idea for the United States to buy Greenland. Trump called the matter “ugly” after he dismissed the proposal of such a deal as “ridiculous.”

In 2022, Frederiksen was harshly criticized by a committee investigating her government’s decision to cull millions of mink during the Covid pandemic.