Snow flakes in the desert...

Denmark floats Quran-burning ban after far-right protests

Tensions flare between Copenhagen and Muslim-majority countries.

BY NICOLAS CAMUT

Denmark is considering banning events where “religions are being insulted,” the foreign ministry said Sunday after Qurans were burned in recent weeks by far-right groups in front of foreign embassies from Muslim-majority countries in Copenhagen.

The Danish government will “explore the possibility of intervening in special situations where, for instance, other countries, cultures, and religions are being insulted,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding the burnings were “deeply offensive” and “play into the hands of extremists.”

“We must find a legal tool that allows us to prevent Quran burnings in front of foreign embassies in Denmark,” Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR on Sunday, adding there had been “five Quran burnings” in Copenhagen that day.

Several Quran burnings have taken place in Denmark and Sweden, where the act is permitted under freedom of expression and right to protest laws.

Last week, a far-right group which calls itself the “Danish patriots” orchestrated two burnings in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen.

The burnings caused a diplomatic spat with Turkey, and were condemned by the European Union as “offensive, disrespectful and a clear provocation.”