Attack in Copenhagen: What is known about the attack on Denmark’s head of government

After the attack on Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, investigators do not currently believe that it was a planned attack with a political motive. A man hit the 46-year-old on the arm in downtown Copenhagen. She was examined in hospital and suffered minor whiplash, her office announced on Saturday. She is otherwise in good condition, but shaken by the incident.

Investigators arrested a 39-year-old man. He is accused of punching the politician in the upper arm. A court ordered him to remain in custody until June 20 at the weekend, the Danish news agency Ritzau reported. The suspect denies his guilt.

Suspected perpetrator was probably drunk

The man was probably under the influence of drugs and alcohol, wrote Ritzau, citing the police. He is a Polish citizen and has been in Denmark for a long time. In court, the man denied having anything against Frederiksen. She is a “really good prime minister,” he said at the meeting. The man said he was surprised to meet her on the street.

It remained unclear why the alleged perpetrator struck. The police announced on the X platform that their main hypothesis is currently not that the case is politically motivated. A police officer spoke of an isolated, spontaneous act. The judge assumed that the suspect knew who Frederiksen was. There was a reasonable suspicion that he had committed violence against a public official.

“Dear Mette, I wish you a speedy recovery!”

Politicians from several countries condemned the attack. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) sent his best wishes for recovery via the X platform: “Dear Mette, I wish you a speedy recovery!” French President Emmanuel Macron reacted in the same way as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote to Frederiksen: “I condemn this despicable act, which contradicts everything we believe in in Europe and what we fight for. I wish you strength and courage – I know that you have plenty of both.”

Recently, several politicians in Europe have been attacked on the street, including in Germany. In Dresden, the SPD campaigner Matthias Ecke was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized, and an AfD local politician in Mannheim was injured with a knife while pursuing an election poster thief. On May 15, the Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was critically injured by a shot fired by an opponent of the government.

Frederiksen made insults public on the Internet

On Saturday, Frederiksen canceled several appointments. Frederiksen had called for a debate on interpersonal relationships just a few weeks ago, albeit on social media at the time. To illustrate her criticism, she published several hate messages that she said she had received herself. Harassment, sexism, insults, hatred and threats are unfortunately part of everyday life for many, she wrote. She herself has recently received hate messages and threats on a scale that she had never experienced before.