Denmark Passes Law Banning Foreign Funding of Mosques
Evan James
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The Danish government has passed a law that bans foreign governments from funding mosques in their nation.
A summary of the bill can be read in Danish here. Below is a rough English translation courtesy of Google Translate:
“This is a new main law that aims to prevent natural and legal persons, including foreign state authorities and state-run organizations and companies, from opposing or undermining democracy and fundamental freedoms and human rights by making donations to persons and organizations in Denmark.
“With the bill, the Minister of Immigration and Integration Affairs will have the opportunity, on the recommendation of the Danish Immigration Service, to decide to include a natural or legal person on a public ban list if the person in question opposes or undermines democracy and fundamental freedoms and human rights, and if the person will make a donation to recipients in Denmark.”
The title of the bill was “Proposal for a Law Prohibiting the Receipt of Donations from Certain Natural and Legal Persons.” The Danish Parliament approved it by a 79 to 7 vote earlier this March.
The bill does not specifically mention Islam or mosques, but there’s no question about its intent.
“Today there are extreme forces abroad that are trying to turn our Muslim citizens against Denmark and thus divide our society,” said Minister for Immigration and Integration Mattias Tesfaye. “Several times in recent years, the media have reported on Danish mosques receiving millions from the Middle East, among others. The government will oppose this.”
“This bill is an important step towards fighting attempts by Islamic extremists to gain ground in Denmark,” Tesfaye added. “With this, we can take a targeted approach to the donations that undermine the values on which Danish society is based.”
Denmark is hardly the only European nation to try cutting off the flow of mosque financing from foreign countries. Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have also taken a more or less similar approach.
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