Denmark’s Prime Minister Frederiksen assaulted in central Copenhagen, man arrested

Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, walked away following an assault by a man in central Copenhagen on Friday and had no outward signs of harm, a local resident told Reuters.

Soren Kjergaard, who works as a barista in central Copenhagen, gave this account after seeing her being escorted away by security.

“She seemed a little stressed,” Kjergaard said.

The PM’s office, without giving further detail, said in a statement, “Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was beaten on Friday evening at Kultorvet (square, red.) in Copenhagen by a man who was subsequently arrested.”

In a statement on Saturday, Frederiksen’s office said she suffered a light whiplash injury in the incident.

“Apart from that, the Prime Minister is safe and sound, but she is shocked by the incident,” it said, adding that Frederiksen had been taken to the hospital for a check-up following the incident late on Friday.

All the Prime Minister’s official events on Saturday had been cancelled, her office said.

Through social media platform X, the police said that they had arrested a man and were investigating the incident, but declined to give further details