Danish PM still not feeling well after street attack

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said she is fulfilling her duties as the country’s leader, but has not yet fully recovered after last week’s street attack.

“I’m not really myself yet,” Ms Frederiksen said in an interview with Danish broadcaster DR.

The prime minister was struck by a man who walked up to her in Copenhagen’s old town on Friday evening.

“As a human being, it felt like an attack on me… but I have no doubt it was the prime minister who got hit,” the 46-year-old said.

“It was an attack on us all,” she added, as she talked about a perceived change in tone in Danish politics in recent times.

Ms Frederiksen is said to have experienced whiplash after the incident. The attack was not considered politically motivated.

A 39-year-old Polish man, who was arrested, appeared at the Court of Frederiksberg for a preliminary hearing on Saturday.

He was charged with violence against a person in public service, and denies guilt, local media reported.

In her interview with DR on Tuesday, Ms Frederiksen said there was no place for any form of violence in Danish society.

The incident, which took place two days before Danes headed to the polls for European elections, was strongly condemned by world leaders, with EU chief Charles Michel saying he was “outraged”.

Ms Frederiksen, 46, became prime minister in 2019 after taking over as leader of the centre-left Social Democrats four years earlier. She is the youngest prime minister in Danish history.

During the same interview with the Danish broadcaster, the prime minister was asked about the results of the European Parliament elections, where her Social Democrats party were beaten by Green-Left party SF which polled more than 17% of the vote.

Ms Frederiksen, who had to halt campaigning over the weekend to recover after the assault, said she was “really sorry” about the result, but emphasised that she was listening to the electorate.