The Danish government announced on Sunday that it plans to limit demonstrations that involve the burning of religious texts, citing security reasons after protests in which copies of the Koran have been burned in the country and also in Sweden. The Executive, made up of social democrats and liberals, emphasizes that these demonstrations play into the hands of extremists and cause division, for which reason it intends to “explore” the possibility of intervening in cases in which, “for example, other countries, cultures and religions are insulted, and which may have significant negative consequences for Denmark, especially in terms of security,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Danish ultranationalists burned a copy of the Koran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen on July 23. The Government condemned what happened and described the burning as a “provocation that hurts many people and creates discord between different religions and cultures.” “Denmark supports the right to protest, but insists that it must remain peaceful,” added the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The protest in Copenhagen came a few days after a group of protesters set fire to the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad over the burning of a Koran in the Scandinavian country at the end of June and permission for a similar act in which the religious book was trampled. The Iraqi government, after assuring that it would investigate the event, decided to expel the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad, Jessica Svardstrom. The president, the Kurdish Abdelatif Rashid, accused Sweden of “complicating” relations by giving permission to burn the Koran.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan yesterday called on the Swedish authorities to take measures to prevent the Koran from burning in protests.
The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, also spoke yesterday with the head of the Danish Government, Mette Frederiksen, and indicated that they agreed that the situation was dangerous. “We have to take steps to strengthen our resilience,” he said in a post on Instagram.
The Swedish government, in a similar line to the Danish one, has already announced that it will examine the Public Order Law to give the police the possibility of stopping demonstrations that threaten security. “Ultimately it is about defending our free and open societies, democracy and the right of citizens to freedom and security,” Kristersson said.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe
Follow all the international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
