French President Emmanuel Macron denounced, this Saturday, June 8, the “unacceptable” attack suffered by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who was hit by a man on Friday evening in a square in Copenhagen. “I strongly condemn this act and wish Mette Frederiksen a speedy recovery,” he wrote on the social network.
According to the services of the head of the Danish government, Mette Frederiksen “was hit by a man on Friday evening on Kultorvet in Copenhagen”. “The man was arrested” and the Prime Minister was “shocked by the incident”, they said. The attacker will be presented this Saturday to a judge in a Copenhagen court, who will rule on his detention. “A 39-year-old man will be brought before a court in Copenhagen for questioning,” Danish police said on X.
“Violence has no place in politics”
European Council President Charles Michel and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola condemned the attack. Roberta Metsola urged the head of the Danish government to “stay strong”, while adding in a message published on X that “violence has no place in politics”. For his part, Charles Michel said he was “scandalized by the attack”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned what she called “a despicable act that goes against everything we believe and stand for in Europe”, in a statement broadcast on the social networks.
This attack comes after a series of attacks against political figures of all sides, at their workplace or on the electoral campaign trail in Germany, in the run-up to this week’s European elections. On May 15, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot several times at point-blank range while greeting supporters after a government meeting in the town of Handlova in central Slovakia. Robert Fico, who survived the assassination attempt, was taken to a hospital in a nearby town after the shooting, where he underwent two lengthy surgeries.