"Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was beaten on Friday evening at Kultorvet in Copenhagen by a man who was subsequently arrested. The Prime Minister is shocked by the incident," her office said in a statement without giving further detail.

Also read: One child killed, two wounded in Finland school shooting, 12-year-old boy held

Police said on social media platform X they had arrested a man and were investigating the incident but declined to give further detail.

"She seemed a little stressed," Soren Kjergaard, who works on the square, told Reuters after seeing the prime minister being escorted away by national and intelligence security personnel or PET following the assault.

The assault comes two days before Danes head to the polls in the EU election. Three weeks ago, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured in an assassination attempt.