Sweden won’t ban Quran-burning campaigns yet, following Denmark’s example

The Swedish authorities do not believe they can follow the example of Denmark, which is working on a bill to ban the public burning of the Koran. Similar measures would require amending the constitution, which is not the best way for Stockholm, said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

“To do exactly the same as Denmark will most likely require a constitutional amendment, so for Sweden this is not the best way,” – said Kristersson at a press conference (quoted from SVT).

He added that each country that faces “acute threats” chooses its own way of dealing with them, stressing that it respects Denmark’s actions.

On August 25, Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummlegaard said the Danish government was now putting forward proposals to ban the burning of the Koran and other religious works in public places. According to him, such a bill would make it a criminal offense to publicly burn the Koran, the Bible or the Torah.

The minister also called the burning of the Quran “meaningless insults” whose sole purpose is to “spawn discord and hatred.”

The leader of the Swedish opposition, Magdalena Andersson, told SVT that Denmark’s decision worsens the situation in the neighboring country even more: in her opinion, until now, in the situation with the Koran, the states could support each other, and now, when the Danes change their legislation, Sweden “remains alone and finds himself in a very vulnerable situation.” The politician hopes to get clarification from the government on how it will guarantee the safety of the Swedish people.

In the summer in Sweden and Denmark, there were several actions with the burning of the Koran. In particular, on June 28, the day of the celebration of Eid al-Adha, in Stockholm, 37-year-old immigrant from Iraq Salvan Momika tore out pages from the Koran and set them on fire. This action led to protests of believers outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad. Those gathered at the diplomatic mission demanded that the emigrant who burned the Koran be sent back to Iraq. Then the demonstrators broke into the territory of the embassy, ​​no damage was reported. On July 25, the Koran was burned twice: at the diplomatic mission of Egypt and at the Turkish embassy in the Danish capital. On July 27, the Swedish police approved an action with the burning of a Torah scroll near the Israeli embassy.