Danish Prime Minister attacked and beaten

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was attacked in a public square in Copenhagen on Friday. Police have arrested a male suspect. Frederiksen is said to have suffered no serious injuries.

The attack took place on Kultorvet Square in the centre of the Danish capital. According to local media reports, Frederiksen had been campaigning with her party’s top candidate for the European elections, Christel Schaldemose, before the attack.

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“Mette Frederiksen was attacked and beaten by a man today at the Kultorvet in Copenhagen. Mette is of course shocked by the attack. I must say that it shocks all of us who are close to her,” This is what Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke wrote in a statement on social media.

Frederiksen’s office said the prime minister was shocked by the incident, but made no further comment. An anonymous source told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that Frederiksen was not seriously injured, but “very shocked.”

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DR News reported that police arrested a male suspect.

The attack on Frederiksen came less than a month after a gunman attempted to assassinate Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. The Slovakian leader has since recovered from the shot he fired at the “Hate and aggression” Slovakia’s pro-Western political opposition.

Frederiksen’s opponents and allies condemned Friday’s attack. “People can have different political opinions, but violence is and remains completely unacceptable,” wrote Peter Skaarup of the right-wing Denmark Democrats. “Warm greetings to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who is definitely allowed to conduct her election campaign without violent attacks.”