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Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen gives her Constitution Day in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 5, 2024.
Danish PM attacked in the street
Political violence is surging – even where you’d least expect it.
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen was attacked on a Copenhagen street on Friday, just two days before her country votes in EU Parliament elections. Her Social Democrats are the largest party in Denmark’s government, but they’ve been losing support in recent months.
Following a campaign event, a man reportedly walked up to Frederiksen and hit her in the city center late Friday. She was left in shock, and the assailant was arrested.
Fellow European politicians are taking to social media to offer support and condemn the attack, which comes just weeks after Slovakian PM Robert Fico survived a May 15 assassination attempt.
As we wrote earlier this week, scholars and police have been growing increasingly worried about the risk of political violence in both the US and Canada as both countries head into election cycles this year and next. But Europe is already in the throes of a tumultuous European election in which – amid sharp debates about immigration – the far right is expected to gain seats.
Stay tuned: We’ll be watching to see how Frederiksen bounces back from the attack, and how Danes and Europeans more broadly vote in the days ahead.
What's up with European Elections: Europe in 60 Seconds
What are going to be the dominant issues in the European Parliament elections towards the end of May?
Well, difficult to say because it's going to be really 27 or 28 [countries]. We don't know about the UK. Different elections with somewhat different national agendas, but economy in some countries. But then a lot of immigration and concern about security are also going to be the agenda in some of them.
Is Scotland going to vote for independence?
Well, God only knows that. But I think it's a safe bet that if the UK leaves the European Union - that's likely. I think it's highly likely that some years down the road the Scots are going to have another referendum on independence. And if you look at how opinion is trending now, it is moving in that direction. But much will happen before that. So I'm quite certain we will be back on that particular issue as well.