Frederiksen suggested her experience was the culmination of some broadly familiar trends: proliferating social media threats, increasingly aggressive political discourse, a divisive Middle East war. "As a human being, it feels like an attack on me. But I have no doubt it was the prime minister that was hit. In this way, it becomes a kind of attack on all of us."
This idea that elected politicians - and the democracies they represent - are everywhere endangered by rising personalised violence is backed by plenty of evidence.
With contentious elections fast approaching in France, the UK and the US, it seems only too probable that there will be more outrages and more victims, some possibly high profile. The root causes of this phenomenon include anger at and distrust of "ruling elites", deliberate polarisation and fearmongering, antimigrant racism, sectarian bigotry, economic distress and digital provocations by malign state actors. Yet there is no obvious pattern. Political violence, mostly random, is coming from both right and left.
Robert Fico, Slovakia's hard-right prime minister, was shot several times last month and was fortunate to survive. He believes he was attacked because of his views, and blames the influence of political opponents on the left. "It's evident he [Fico's assailant] was only a messenger of evil and political hatred," he said.
Denne historien er fra June 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra June 21, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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