In Denmark, a law on mandatory handshake is adopted upon receipt of citizenship. It was developed because of immigrants-muslims

On December 20, the Denmark parliament approved a law that obliges the burgomaster to shake hands during the ceremony of obtaining citizenship. The new rule comes into force on January 1. According to parliamentarians, he is introduced because of Muslims who, for religious reasons, refuse to press their hands on the representatives of the other sex if they are not connected with them with blood ties.

“If you come to Denmark, where there is a tradition of reaping each other in greeting, then ignoring this tradition is disrespectful. If someone is not capable of such a simple and unambiguous gesture, he does not need to become a citizen of Denmark, ”Martin Henriksen, a member of the parliament from the extreme right of the Danish Party, which lobbied the adoption of the law, quotes The New York Times.

The new demand caused criticism from the local authorities who conduct ceremony of obtaining citizenship. “To force someone to physical contact contradicts my beliefs,” said the burgomaster of the commune Oberno Thomas Andresen. He did not hide the fact that he would try to circumvent the law, for example, he would invite to the ceremony of fellow women. The head of the commune Mariaserfjord, Pereyns Jespersen said that he would take a nod or bow from those who refuse to shake his hand.

Ole Bierstorp - the burgomaster of the compassion in the suburbs of Copenhagen, about 40% of whose population is immigrants and their descendants - said that over 17 years he had never been in a situation when he was refused to shake his hand. If this happens, Bjerestorp, according to him, will find someone else to conduct a ceremony of obtaining citizenship. “My conscience will not allow this person to convey to this person, because he may lose the Danish citizenship,” he said.

The Minister of Immigration, Integration and Housing of Denmark, a member of the ruling liberal party of Venus Ingger Struster, supports the requirement for a handshake upon receipt of citizenship. “We greet the hand in Denmark. So we welcome each other and show respect to each other. This is a completely natural part of the ceremony, ”she said . The minister promised that the representatives of local authorities who refuse to comply with the new law would be punished with fines (what the size of the fine will be, Streuberg did not specify).

Denmark is not the only country in Europe where a rejection of a handshake can cause citizenship. In August 2018, Switzerland did not give citizenship of a Muslim couple from North Africa, which refused to answer questions from people of the other sex and shake their hands at an interview in the naturalization commission. In April 2018, in France, a refusal of citizenship for similar behavior received an Algerian native.

In Denmark, the laws on immigration are gradually tightening. In 2016, the police received the right to withdraw money and values ​​from visitors in order to cover the costs of their reception and maintenance. Since May 2018, women began to be fined from one to 10 thousand kroons ($ 1530) for wearing a burka in public places. On December 20, the Danish parliament, in addition to the law on handshake, approved the expulsion to a separate island of foreign criminals who left their prison term in Denmark and which cannot be deported to their homeland, since they can be tortured or executed there. Such people will be sent to the small island of Lindholm, where the laboratory for the study of pork flu, rabies and other infectious diseases is now located.

Olga Korelina