Man to appear in court over street attack on Danish prime minister

A Danish man suspected of assaulting the country’s prime minister was due to appear in court on Saturday as world leaders condemned the “despicable” attack.

Mette Frederiksen was attacked by a 39-year-old man in central Copenhagen on Friday evening, just days before the start of the European elections which will select a new cohort of MEPs in Brussels.

The prime minister’s office said she suffered a minor whiplash injury and had cancelled all public engagements for Saturday to recover.

“After being assaulted yesterday, prime minister Mette Frederiksen was taken to Rigshospitalet for a medical check-up,” her office said.

“The assault has caused a minor whiplash injury... [she] is otherwise safe but shaken by the incident.”

Witness accounts suggest the prime minister was shoved by the man, who strode up to her and gave her a “strong push”. They have described the assailant as being of slim build with medium length blond hair.

It remained unclear on Saturday what the attacker’s motive was and no words were exchanged between the man and the prime minister during the incident, Danish media reports said.

“A man came by in the opposite direction and gave her a hard shove on the shoulder, causing her to fall to the side,” Marie Adrian told Danish newspaper BT.

Tackled to the ground

She said she was sitting by a fountain at around 6pm when the attack occurred.

The prime minister then went to sit down in a café as the assailant attempted to flee but was quickly tackled to the ground by what appeared to be her security team.

“They had pacified him, and as he lay there, he looked confused and a little dazed,” a witness told Danish media.

“Mette Frederiksen was hit by a man Friday evening on Kultorvet in Copenhagen. The man was subsequently arrested,” the Danish prime minister’s office said, adding that she was “shocked” by the incident.

A Danish police spokesman said on Saturday: “This morning, a 39-year-old man will be brought before the Copenhagen district court for questioning.”

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, led cries of condemnation from across the EU over the assault, which comes amid increased levels of violence against politicians.

“The attack is unacceptable. I strongly condemn this act and wish Mette a speedy recovery,” the French leader said on Saturday morning.

The assault was also condemned by Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of Nato.

“Shocked to hear about the violence against my friend Mette Frederiksen of our ally Denmark,” he wrote in a statement.

“I strongly condemn all violence against our political leaders. Nato allies stand together to protect our values, freedom, democracy and the rule of law.”

Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus, expressed “my best wishes for your speedy recovery” while Simon Harris, the Irish taoiseach, said: “Violence has no place in politics and cannot be tolerated.”

‘Despicable act’

Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said he was “outraged by the assault”, adding: “I strongly condemn this cowardly act of aggression.”

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, called it a “despicable act which goes against everything we believe and fight for in Europe”.

The incident follows a spate of attacks on politicians out campaigning ahead of the EU elections, notably in Germany where candidates for the AfD, SPD and Greens have all been assaulted.

Earlier this week, an AfD candidate for local elections in Mannheim was attacked with a knife after confronting a man for tearing down campaign posters.

Ms Frederiksen, 46, became Denmark’s youngest prime minister when she was elected in 2019 and is serving her second term after securing an election victory in 2022.

Magnus Heunicke, the environment minister, said he was particularly shocked that the incident had happened in a country like Denmark.

“I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her...something like this must not happen in our beautiful, safe and free country,” he said.