Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was attacked by a man in the capital city of Copenhagen on Friday, her office said in a brief statement to CNN.
“Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was hit by a man Friday evening on Kultorvet [public square] in Copenhagen. The man was subsequently arrested,” the prime minister’s office said.
It added that Frederiksen “is shocked by the incident” and there was no further comment. It is unclear if the prime minister was hurt in the assault.
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa expressed her disbelief about Frederiksen being atttacked. “Deeply shocked by the outrageous attack on my colleague and friend, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen,” Silina said in a post on X.
“All our thoughts are with you and your loved ones. Wishing you a speedy recovery,” she added.
Frederiksen, the leader of Denmark’s center-left Socialist Democratic party, has served as prime minister since 2019.
Denmark is due to vote in the European Union elections on Sunday.
Her attack comes weeks after Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and wounded in what was the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader for more than 20 years. Political analysts and lawmakers said at the time that exposed an increasingly febrile and polarized political climate both in Slovakia and across Europe.
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