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A Polish man who punched the Danish prime minister earlier this year has been sentenced to jail and deportation to his origin country after his attack intensified fears about political violence in Europe.
The 39-year-old man, who was not identified by Danish authorities, was convicted by a Copenhagen court on Wednesday of assaulting Mette Frederiksen in June. He was sentenced to four months in prison after which he will be deported and banned from re-entering Denmark for six years. He said he would not appeal against the ruling.
The leftwing prime minister was off work in central Copenhagen on a Friday evening when the man punched her in the shoulder with a clenched hand, causing her whiplash. He said he was too drunk to remember the encounter.
The assault drew condemnation from across the political spectrum in Denmark as well as across Europe, as commentators raised concerns about increasing political violence. It took place on the weekend of the European parliament elections and just weeks after an assassination attempt against Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. US presidential candidate Donald Trump was also injured in an assassination attempt in July during a campaign rally.
“I am not quite myself,” Frederiksen told Danish TV shortly after the assault. She added: “It was very intimidating when someone crosses the last physical boundary you have. There is some shock and surprise in that.”
Frederiksen did not testify in court, but one of her bodyguards said the Polish man had punched her.
“We have placed weight on the nature and seriousness of the matter, and that the violence against the prime minister was committed in her spare time . . . and not as part of an event where the prime minister was performing her duties as prime minister,” judges said in court on Wednesday.
The Polish man pleaded guilty to other offences, including groping a woman, exposing himself to passers-by, and fraud involving recycling deposits on bottles and cans. “His behaviour and demeanour are far removed from a citizen who should be in our society,” a prosecutor told the court.
Frederiksen, who has been prime minister since 2019, leads a coalition government including her own Social Democrats, the largest party in Denmark. She was talked about last year as a possible successor to Jens Stoltenberg as the next Nato secretary-general before the position went to Mark Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister.
