Sputnik news reports that The Danish government is about to present a bill that will make it more difficult for foreign countries to fund mosques in the country. The law will make it a criminal offence to accept money from individuals, organizations and associations that “oppose or undermine democratic values and fundamental freedoms and human rights”.
The idea is to conclude a blacklist of banned donors. Apart from stopping foreign donations to mosques, the new law will also tighten the penalties for child marriage and forced marriage, Tesfaye pledged.
The background to this step is that the national daily Berlingske earlier this year revealed that Saudi Arabia, through its embassy in Denmark, had funneled nearly DKK 5 million (671, 719 euros) to Taiba mosque in Copenhagen. This is the first documented instance of Saudi Arabia financially supporting a Danish mosque.
This revelation, followed by more of the same kind, sparked a debate about where the Danish mosques obtain their funding and what forces control them. Subsequently, the country’s Social Democrat government presented a parliamentary settlement with the opposition to restrict the flow of money from dubious and “anti-democratic” donors abroad.