Denmark PM Mette Frederiksen assaulted in central Copenhagen, man arrested
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Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (centre) and her husband Bo Tengberg (left) attending a commemorative ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings, in Normandy, France, on June 6.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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COPENHAGEN - Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen walked away following an assault by a man in central Copenhagen on June 7 and had no outward signs of harm, a local resident told Reuters.
"Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was beaten on Friday evening at Kultorvet (Red Square) in Copenhagen by a man who was subsequently arrested. The Prime Minister is shocked by the incident," her office said, in a statement without giving further detail.
Police said on social media platform X they had arrested a man and were investigating the incident but declined to give further detail.
"She seemed a little stressed," barista Soren Kjergaard, who works on the square, told Reuters, after seeing the prime minister being escorted away by security following the assault.
The assault comes two days before Danes head to the polls in the EU election.
Three weeks ago, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
Danish Minister of Environment Magnus Heunicke said on X: "Mette is naturally shocked by the attack. I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her." REUTERS
