Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was attacked by a man in on Friday but escaped unharmed, according to media reports.
Frederiksen had no visible injuries, a local resident told Reuters.
“Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was assaulted on Friday evening at Kultorvet Square in Copenhagen by a man who was subsequently arrested. The Prime Minister is shocked by the incident,” her office said in a statement.
Police said on social media platform X they had and were investigating the incident but declined to give further details.
“She seemed a little stressed,” Soren Kjergaard, who works as a barista on the square, told Reuters.
Danish Minister of Environment Magnus Heunicke said he was shocked by news of the attack.
“Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was today assaulted and beaten by a man on Kultorvet in Copenhagen. Mette is naturally shocked by the attack. I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her,” he wrote on X.
Edgars Rinkevics, president of Latvia, said news of the attack was “disturbing.”
“Violence is completely unacceptable in a democratic society,” he wrote on X. “My thoughts are with @Statsmin and her family.”
The assault came two days before Danes head to the polls in the election. Three weeks ago, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an assassination attempt, Reuters reported.