Man jailed for street attack on Danish prime minister

Mette Frederiksen was taken to hospital with whiplash injury and was said to be ‘shocked’ by the incident in a Copenhagen square

A man who assaulted Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, in a Copenhagen square has been jailed for 12 days.
The 39-year-old man, understood to be a foreign national, appeared in court in the Danish capital as world leaders condemned the “despicable” attack.
Ms Frederiksen was attacked  in central Copenhagen on Friday evening, just days before the start of the European elections which will select a new cohort of MEPs in Brussels.
The prime minister’s office said she suffered a minor whiplash injury and had cancelled all public engagements for Saturday to recover.
The attacker appeared in court on Saturday afternoon. “In light of the fact that the accused has no connection to Denmark, there is a risk of escape,” the court stated as the grounds for a custodial sentence.
Danish police say they do not believe the attack was politically motivated.
Danish media reports said the attacker was a Polish citizen who was mentally unstable and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
He also claimed to be unaware that the person he was attacking was the country’s prime minister. 
The prime minister’s office said: “After being assaulted yesterday, prime minister Mette Frederiksen was taken to Rigshospitalet for a medical check-up.
“The assault has caused a minor whiplash injury… [she] is otherwise safe but shaken by the incident.”
Witness accounts suggest the prime minister was shoved by the man, who strode up to her and gave her a “strong push”. They have described the assailant as being of slim build with medium length blond hair.
It remained unclear on Saturday what the attacker’s motive was and no words were exchanged between the man and the prime minister during the incident, Danish media reports said.
“A man came by in the opposite direction and gave her a hard shove on the shoulder, causing her to fall to the side,” one witness told Danish newspaper BT. 
The prime minister was sitting by a fountain at around 6pm when the attack occurred.
After the assault, Ms Frederiksen went to sit down in a café as the assailant attempted to flee. He was quickly tackled to the ground by what appeared to be her security team.
“They had pacified him, and as he lay there, he looked confused and a little dazed,” a witness told Danish media.
Ms Frederiksen’s office said that she was “shocked” by the incident.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, led cries of condemnation from across the EU over the assault, which comes amid increased levels of violence against politicians.
“The attack is unacceptable. I strongly condemn this act and wish Mette a speedy recovery,” the French leader said on Saturday morning.
Deeply shocked by the outrageous attack on my colleague and friend, Prime Minister of #Denmark Mette Frederiksen. @Statsmin, all our thoughts are with you and your loved ones. Wishing you a speedy recovery! 🇩🇰
The assault was also condemned by Evika Silina, the prime minister of Latvia, and Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of Nato. 
“Shocked to hear about the violence against my friend Mette Frederiksen of our ally Denmark,” he wrote in a statement. 
“I strongly condemn all violence against our political leaders. Nato allies stand together to protect our values, freedom, democracy and the rule of law.”
Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus, expressed “my best wishes for your speedy recovery” while Simon Harris, the Irish Taoiseach, said: “Violence has no place in politics and cannot be tolerated.”
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said he was “outraged by the assault”, adding: “I strongly condemn this cowardly act of aggression.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, called it a “despicable act which goes against everything we believe and fight for in Europe”.
The incident follows a spate of attacks on politicians out campaigning ahead of the EU elections, notably in Germany where candidates for the AfD, SPD and Greens have all been assaulted.
Earlier this week, an AfD candidate for local elections in Mannheim was attacked with a knife after confronting a man for tearing down campaign posters.
Ms Frederiksen, 46, became Denmark’s youngest prime minister when she was elected in 2019 and is serving her second term after securing an election victory in 2022.
Magnus Heunicke, the environment minister, said he was particularly shocked that the incident had happened in a country like Denmark.
“I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her…something like this must not happen in our beautiful, safe and free country,” he said.