Attack on Denmark PM: Mette Frederiksen suffered light whiplash injury after assault, says her office
File photo of Danish PM Mette Frederiksen.
Danish Prime MinisterMette Frederiksen suffered alight whiplash injury after she was assaulted by a man in central Copenhagen on Friday, her office said on Saturday (June 8)."Apart from that, the Prime Minister is safe and sound, but she is shocked by the incident," the office said in a statement.
Frederiksen had been taken to hospital for a check-up following the incident. The office further informed that all official events ofFrederiksen had been cancelled for now.
The attack
On Friday, Prime MinisterFrederiksen was attacked by a manin a Copenhagen square. The attacker was subsequently arrested by authoritiesand an investigation waslaunched, said thepolice in a post on X.
Speaking to the news agency Reuters, a bar manager working at the square said, "Well, I saw the prime minister sitting with a friend at this table and just I think was one minute, two minutes afterwards, four PET (Danish national security and intelligence service) guys showed up, talked about an arrest has been made."
"And then she was escorted by the four PETs to someplace around in the middle of the square and then escorted just a way around the corner,”themanager added.
The attack on the prime minister cametwo days before Danes headed to the polls in the European Union (EU) election. Three weeks ago, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
Several European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, and EU officials condemned the assault.
Attacker to appear in court
The police said on Saturday that the man arrested for attackingFrederiksen wouldappear before a judge later in the day who will decide if he will be kept in custody.
"This morning, a 39-year-old man will be brought before the Copenhagen district court for questioning," the police said in another post on X, adding, that the hearing was expected to be held at 4.30 pm IST (11.00 GMT) atFrederiksberg in Copenhagen.
(With inputs from agencies)