Man who allegedly attacked Danish prime minister before appearing at remand hearing

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A man who allegedly attacked the Danish prime minister in central Copenhagen will appear at a pre-trial detention hearing on Saturday, authorities said.

Police confirmed “there was an incident” with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Friday and that a 39-year-old man was arrested. They did not provide further details and it was not clear whether Frederiksen was injured.

The man is expected to arrive at 11:00 GMT at the Copenhagen District Court in Frederiksberg, a municipal enclave of the Danish capital.

The Prime Minister's Office told Danish public broadcaster DR on Friday that Frederiksen was "shocked" by what happened.

Two eyewitnesses, Anna Ravn and Marie Adrian, told daily BT that they saw a man walk towards Frederiksen and then "push her violently on the shoulder so that she was pushed to the side". They stressed that the prime minister did not fall.

Another witness, Kasper Jørgensen, told the tabloid Ekstra Bladet that a well-dressed man, who appeared to be part of the protection unit of Frederiksen, and a policeman took down the Prime Minister. alleged attacker.

Søren Kjærgaard, who worked at a local bar on Kultorvet Square where the incident occurred, told the BT that he saw Frederiksen after the incident and that she did not no visible injuries to her face, but that she had walked away quickly.

Politicians in the Scandinavian country and abroad condemned the reported attack.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson declared that “an attack on a democratically elected leader is also an attack on our democracy”, while Charles Michel, President of the European Council, condemned he called it a “cowardly act of aggression.” »

European Union parliamentary elections are currently underway in Denmark and the rest of the 27-nation bloc and will end on Sunday.

Frederiksen campaigned with the Social Democrats' lead candidate in the European elections, Christel Schaldemose. Media reports said the attack was not linked to a campaign event.

Violence against politicians has become a theme in the run-up to the European elections. In May, a candidate from Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party was beaten and seriously injured while campaigning for a seat in the European Parliament.

In Slovakia, the electoral campaign was overshadowed by the attempted assassination of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15, causing shock waves in this country of 5.4 million inhabitants and reverberating throughout Europe.

Frederiksen, 46...