The handshake requirement will deter few applicants for citizenship, officials said, but it sends a harsh message to Muslims, and many mayors who conduct citizenship ceremonies said they would find ways to avoid it.

“It’s against my ideology and conviction to have to force other people to have body contact,” said Thomas Andresen, the mayor of Aabenraa, near the border with Germany.

To circumvent the law, Mr. Andresen said, he could either arrange to have local officials of both genders take part in the ceremonies or have state officials take over. Either way, he said, he would look for pragmatic solutions while protesting legislation “gone too far.”

Mogens Jespersen, the mayor of Mariagerfjord, a northern town, told the national broadcaster that he would disregard the law and accept a nod or a bow from an applicant refusing to extend her hand.

“But I think it’s a hypothetical question I’ll never face,” he said.

In Ishoj, a suburb of Copenhagen, immigrants and their descendants constitute 40 percent of the population. But its mayor of 17 years, Ole Bjorstorp, said he had never met anybody who refused to shake his hand.

If it were to happen, he said, he would just find somebody else to perform the ceremony.

“My conscience doesn’t allow me to report people on this basis so they won’t become Danish citizens,” he said. “It’s a moral and ethical issue.”

One mayor said he had met a female asylum seeker who declined to shake his hand for religious reasons, but he did not find it disturbing.</s>Denmark has passed a law requiring any new citizens to shake hands at their naturalization ceremony.Some of the mayors who are expected to take part in the ceremonies have complained that the new law signed on Thursday uses them against the populace.It was decided over the summer that new citizens should take part in a ceremony where they sign a declaration pledging their belief in Danish values.The new law means that as part of the ceremony a new citizen will have to shake hands with an official.He previously told the Eskra Bladet tabloid that shaking hands 'must simply be a demand.'As well as Muslims the law could also impact other religious groups who abstain from or for whom it is forbidden to touch members of the opposite sex.Mayor of Aabenraa, Thomas Andresen, told the Times: 'It's against my ideology and conviction to have to force other people to have body contact.'He said he would look to have members of both sexes present at ceremonies to avoid any of the naturalization ceremonies being interfered with by the legislation.The legislation would not be unique in Europe.Lausanne mayor Gregoire Junod cited their lack of respect for gender equality when they were denied citizenship.Denmark's cabinet is made up of a minority coalition of center-right parties and they rely on support from the Danish People's Party, widely viewed as right-wing and populist.</s>Denmark has passed a law requiring any new citizens to shake hands at their naturalization ceremony.

Critics say the new legislation targets Muslims, who may be reluctant to touch members of the opposite sex for religious reasons.

Some of the mayors who are expected to take part in the ceremonies have complained that the new law signed on Thursday uses them against the populace.

Denmark brought in a face veil ban on August 1 which drew massive protests from Muslim women and human rights groups.

It was decided over the summer that new citizens should take part in a ceremony where they sign a declaration pledging their belief in Danish values.

The new law means that as part of the ceremony a new citizen will have to shake hands with an official.

A right-wing Danish lawmaker, Martin Henriksen told the New York Times: 'If you arrive in Denmark, where it’s custom to shake hands when you greet, if you don’t do it it’s disrespectful.'

The People's Party spokesman on immigration continued: 'If one can’t do something that simple and straightforward, there’s no reason to become a Danish citizen.'

He previously told the Eskra Bladet tabloid that shaking hands 'must simply be a demand.'

As well as Muslims the law could also impact other religious groups who abstain from or for whom it is forbidden to touch members of the opposite sex.

Mayor of Aabenraa, Thomas Andresen, told the Times: 'It’s against my ideology and conviction to have to force other people to have body contact.'

He said he would look to have members of both sexes present at ceremonies to avoid any of the naturalization ceremonies being interfered with by the legislation.

The legislation would not be unique in Europe.

In Switzerland this summer the Guardian reported a couple were refused citizenship by officials in Lausanne after they refused to shake hands with members of the opposite sex.

Lausanne mayor Gregoire Junod cited their lack of respect for gender equality when they were denied citizenship.

Denmark's cabinet is made up of a minority coalition of center-right parties and they rely on support from the Danish People's Party, widely viewed as right-wing and populist.</s>COPENHAGEN — Denmark will require anyone who takes Danish citizenship to shake hands at the naturalization ceremony, under a law passed on Thursday, which lawmakers say is aimed at Muslims who refuse on religious grounds to touch members of the opposite sex.

The law has prompted strong reactions from some of the mayors who must conduct such ceremonies, and who are upset that they will become the faces and fists of a policy they call awkward, “purely symbolic” and irrelevant to an applicant’s qualifications. They say the Danish Parliament, which approved the measure, has artificially elevated a social custom to a national value.

But Denmark is not alone. Authorities in Switzerland and France have recently cited “lack of assimilation” in rejection of citizenship to foreigners who refuse to shake hands with officials.

“If you arrive in Denmark, where it’s custom to shake hands when you greet, if you don’t do it it’s disrespectful,” said Martin Henriksen, a lawmaker who has been critical of Islam and is the right-wing Danish People’s Party’s spokesman on immigration. “If one can’t do something that simple and straightforward, there’s no reason to become a Danish citizen.”</s>A new law, which requires anyone, who takes Danish citizenship, to shake hands at the naturalisation ceremony was approved on December 20. According to the New York Times (NYT), citing Danish lawmakers, the new ruling is aimed at Muslims as some of them refuse to touch members of the opposite sex on religious grounds.

The law, which is to come in force on January 1, was a reaction of "Muslim immigration to Denmark over a long time", the New York Times reports, referencing Martin Henriksen, a Danish lawmaker and a People's Party's spokesman on immigration.

"If you arrive in Denmark, where it's custom to shake hands when you greet, if you don't do it it's disrespectful. If one can't do something that simple and straightforward, there's no reason to become a Danish citizen", the NYT cites Martin Henriksen as saying.

Inger Stojberg, who is Denmark's Integration minister, while commenting on the law, said that a handshake is "visible sign that you've taken Denmark to heart", highlighting that those Danish municipalities that do not abide by the handshake law, will face fines, according to the NYT.

Denmark, which has so far received more than 35,000 refugees is struggling to assimilate them. In October 2018, Denmark withdrew from UN quota system because of the problems it faced with the integration of those migrants that it had already taken in.

READ MORE: Denmark Says Video of Two Scandinavian Women Butchered by 'Daesh' Is Authentic

"We're still in a situation where we're struggling to integrate the many refugees who have come to Denmark in recent years. While an increasing number of refugees have entered the labour market, there are still too many who cannot support themselves", the Local DK cites Inger Stojberg as saying.</s>COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Denmark has adopted a law requiring anyone who becomes a Danish citizen to shake hands at the naturalization ceremony. The move is widely seen as aimed at some Muslims who for religious reasons decline to touch members of the opposite sex.

In a 55-23 vote with 30 lawmakers abstaining, the law was adopted in Parliament on Thursday.

Lawmakers also approved funding for a plan to banish rejected asylum-seekers or those with a criminal record to an island.

About 759 million kroner ($116 million) will be spent to turn the island with a defunct laboratory for contagious animal diseases into facilities for some 100 people in 2021.</s>Billy O'Shea drew attention to himself this week with an opinion piece on Politken.dk, the website of one of Denmark's leading newspapers, in which he explained why he would refuse to shake hands. The 61-year-old writer and translator, who has lived in Denmark since 1981, recently submitted his citizenship application.

DW: The Danish parliament passed legislation on Thursday making a handshake mandatory at naturalization ceremonies. Why do you object to the handshake?

 

 Billy O'Shea: For me there's an important democratic principle involved here. The government says that the handshake is intended to show respect for Danish traditions and Danish culture, and I feel that you cannot impose respect by law. I feel that respect is something that arises in a democracy between people of equal status, equal rights, and it's not something that can be demanded. If you demand respect of people, what you receive will not be respect but submissiveness.

There is also a further question here. In order to apply for citizenship at all in Denmark, you cannot be unemployed. You cannot have a criminal record of any kind. You must have learned the language. You must have learned about Danish history and Danish culture, and you must have recorded every time you've been out of the country for the past 12 years.

When people have done all this, and furthermore waited up to two years to have their citizenship application approved, at the very last moment the government is now saying: But we need you to do one more thing. We need you to prove that you are not a religious extremist of some kind. I feel that this is an impertinence. It's just too much. It is as though the government is putting one barrier after another in the path of honest, hardworking people who are just trying to become citizens of the country in which they live.

You wrote in your opinion piece in Politiken that this is un-Danish. How?

Denmark is a country with very long, very firmly democratic traditions. And I feel that this government is not sufficiently aware of its own traditions.

It is of course part of Danish culture to shake hands with somebody else. And I'm in no way at all trying to defend the religious practice of refusing to shake hands with a person of the opposite gender. I find that to be medieval and quite ridiculous, frankly. But you shake hands with someone as a form of greeting or as a sign of mutual respect. As I said in my piece, if you invite people to a party at your house, then of course you shake hands with your guests when they arrive at the door. What you do not do is put up a sign saying, "Everybody has to shake my hand or else there will be trouble," because that is just bad behavior. It is not the way that Danish people act in my experience.

Is there any valid concern here that the government is addressing?

No, none at all. First of all, the government has been unable to come up with any kind of evidence to show that anyone at any point in any official transaction has refused to shake hands with a representative of the authorities. This has just not happened. So they are not addressing a real need here.

The second thing is, if it ever did become a real problem in Denmark, then there is nothing to stop the government addressing the problem at that time.

And thirdly, let's be realistic: If you are trying to stop religious extremists from becoming citizens, this is not the way to do it. A religious extremist who genuinely objects to shaking hands with a person of the opposite gender probably would not apply for citizenship in the first place. And if they did apply, they might decide to make an exception on that one day and shake hands, if that was what it meant.

You submitted a letter to the minister for immigration and integration, Inger Stojberg. What was her response?

Her response was quite simple: If you do not shake hands with a representative of the authorities you will not be granted citizenship.

I don't intend to change my mind on this. My application has recently gone in. The processing time in Denmark is up to two years. At the end of that two years, I will have passed all of the tests except the final one, which is to shake hands with the mayor of Copenhagen. Now I have great respect for the mayor of Copenhagen. And I have great respect for his office, and indeed I have great respect for the state of Denmark. But I will not shake his hand under compulsion. I don't think this is something that a democracy should be doing.

What kind of reaction have you received to the piece in Politiken?

I've had a huge reaction, and frankly I was amazed. I had expected to be slaughtered in the newspaper and in social media. The reaction I received from ordinary Danish people has been quite the opposite. There's been huge, huge support for what I said, and I was very touched and moved by those expressions of support.

A recent poll showed that 52 percent of the Danish population are against this law. Only 36 percent were for it and the rest were "don't knows." So there is no real support in the population for such an extreme measure. This is something the government is doing completely off its own bat.

Why after all these years are you applying for citizenship now?

After 37 years in the country I don't think there's any doubt that I'm going to stay here for the rest of my life. And if you're going to stay in the country for the rest of your life then you should make the commitment to become a citizen, I feel.

Though as an EU citizen you don't have to give up your Irish passport ...

No. It's just purely to show respect for my country, to the country I live in, and become a true part of this society.</s>Danish lawmakers have approved a government-backed proposal to make citizenship applicants shake hands with the official conducting the naturalization ceremony. The bill has been criticized for discriminating against Muslims.

The new citizenship bill has been the subject of a heated debate since last summer. It requires those applying for Danish citizenship to commit to the country’s values and to show respect for its government by shaking hands with its representative.

Critics of the bill argue that it’s aimed at discouraging Muslims from seeking Danish citizenship, calling the proposal discriminatory and describing it as an unnecessary formality.

The proposal was backed by Denmark’s three-party minority government, with the driving force behind the legislation being the Conservative Party and anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party.

The changes to the naturalization ceremony, which come into effect on January 1, have been met with strong opposition from the local officials who conduct such proceedings. Some mayors have already said they will ignore the new guidelines. The mayor of the town of Kerteminde in central Denmark has gone so far as to imply that he would rather not show up at work than coerce an applicant to shake his hand.

“Shaking hands does not show if you are integrated or not. I think I will probably find an excuse and the deputy mayor will come to work that day,” Kasper Ejsing Olesen told the Guardian earlier.

READ MORE: Cheat, lie and abuse – Danish immigration minister hits out at migrants

The red tape associated with the festive ceremony will cost taxpayers an additional 2,400 kroner ($370) – double the current fee of 1,200 kroner ($183). However, the proponents of the new guidelines believe it’s a fair price to pay to become a Dane.

“When you consider that you are receiving the gift of Danish citizenship, I actually don’t think it’s that expensive. I think it is a tremendously large and valuable gift,” People’s Party spokesman Christian Langball told a local broadcaster in September, as cited by the Local.

Denmark’s Integration Minister Inger Stojberg, a member of the center-right Venstre party, brushed off the criticism, insisting that a handshake is “a completely natural part of the ceremony.”

Stojberg said that a spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic group that openly supports the establishment of a caliphate, told her that he would not have become a Danish citizen if the rules applied retroactively.

“I asked him if he would advise his followers in Hizb ut-Tahrir to pass on it, and he said he would. And that’s exactly what we want with the naturalization ceremony,” the minister said, as cited by TV2.

The latest measure is another step in the Danish government’s wide-ranging crackdown on migration. Earlier this month, Stojberg proposed sending rejected asylum seekers to a remote island, about two miles from the mainland. Some 100 failed asylum seekers and criminal migrants are going to be brought to the islet in the Baltic Sea on a ferry under the plan.

In August, hundreds hit the streets to protest against a “burqa ban” – another “discriminatory” measure that came into effect that month.

Denmark has also been enforcing a controversial law allowing authorities to confiscate cash and valuables from refugees to fund their stay in Denmark since 2016.</s>(Russia Today) Danish lawmakers have approved a government-backed proposal to make citizenship applicants shake hands with the official conducting the naturalization ceremony. The bill has been criticized for discriminating against Muslims.

The new citizenship bill has been the subject of a heated debate since last summer. It requires those applying for Danish citizenship to commit to the country’s values and to show respect for its government by shaking hands with its representative.

Critics of the bill argue that it’s aimed at discouraging Muslims from seeking Danish citizenship, calling the proposal discriminatory and describing it as an unnecessary formality.
Denmark passes a law that requires new citizens to shake hands with a Danish official at their naturalization ceremony. It is widely believed that the law was made to spite potential Muslim immigrants, who usually refuse to shake hands with people of the opposite gender. Several Danish municipalities are openly looking for loopholes in the law.