Danish premier suffers light injury after attack in Copenhagen
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The prime minister's office says that the prime minister had to be hospitalized following the assault, albeit for a health checkup.
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Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen holds a speech during the 175th anniversary of the first Danish Constitution in the Landsting Hall at Christiansborg, Copenhagen, on June 5, 2024. (AFP)
The Danish Prime Minister has suffered a light neck injury due to an assault carried out by a man in Copenhagen on Friday, her office said.
Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen became the country's youngest premier in 2019, winning another round in office in 2022, and is a serious contender to chair the European Council presidency.
Read more: Denmark ready to empty all its ammo stockpiles for Ukraine: Danish PM
Frederiksen, who was transported to the hospital, had her Saturday schedule canceled.
The 39-year-old attacker will appear before a judge for questioning.
The assault occurred two days ahead of the EU elections, which Danish voters are set to participate in. Similar attacks on politicians in Europe have taken place recently.
Read more: European Parliament elections: Political landscape, key players
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and severely injured last month.
Additionally, a member of the European Parliament from Germany's Social Democrats, Matthias Ecke, was attacked while putting up posters in Dresden, and a German senator, Franziska Giffey, was briefly hospitalized after she was hit on the head. Furthermore, on Tuesday, a candidate from the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, Heinrich Koch, was stabbed in Mannheim, in southwest Germany.
European leaders denounced the attack in Denmark.
French President Emmanuel Macron labeled the incident as "unacceptable." Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas expressed being "deeply shocked," and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis described the assault as "appalling and cowardly."
In a social media post, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also denounced the attack, describing it as a "despicable act which goes against everything we believe and fight for in Europe."
