Pole remanded in custody after attack on Danish PM Frederiksen

(Patria) - A 39-year-old Polish man was remanded in custody for twelve days on Saturday for attacking Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen the previous day, which, according to authorities, left her with a minor neck injury, Reuters reported.

Frederiksen sustained a minor injury after the attack, which occurred in central Copenhagen when a man approached and struck the prime minister.

Several EU leaders condemned the incident, which happened just three weeks after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an assassination attempt.

Danish police said the alleged attacker was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time and did not know that the victim was the Danish prime minister.

"There is nothing to indicate a political motive," said the lawyer of the arrested man before the court in Copenhagen on Saturday.

The incident occurred two days before Danes went to the polls for the European Parliament elections.

"Danish authorities have told us that the arrested person is a Polish national who has been residing in Denmark for some time," said a spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"We see this as a single, spontaneous act and currently do not have as a leading hypothesis in our investigation that it was a planned attack on the prime minister," said Copenhagen police inspector Trine Moller for the Ritzau news agency.

A month ago, three German politicians suffered attacks ahead of the European Parliament and district council elections, followed by further attacks earlier this week.