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. (Russia Today) Danish lawmakers have approved a government-backed proposal to make citizenship applicants shake hands with the official conducting the naturalization ceremony. “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. 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.
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.