Protesters in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, set fire to a copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, outside the Iraqi embassy. The individuals, part of a group called Danish Patriots, not only burned the Quran but also stomped on it, placing it in a tin foil tray alongside the Iraqi flag on the ground.
Following the incident, Iraq’s foreign ministry called on European Union countries to reconsider “so-called freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate.” The far-right, ultra-nationalist Danish Patriots had previously held a similar demonstration and live-streamed it on Facebook.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen condemned the act as an act of “stupidity” by a few individuals, expressing that it is disgraceful to insult the religion of others. He emphasized that while burning religious books is not a crime in Denmark, such actions only serve to provoke and create division.
Tensions between Muslim countries and the Scandinavian nations have escalated after a Christian Iraqi refugee in Sweden burned pages of the Quran during the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, representing 57 Muslim countries, suspended Sweden’s special envoy status in response to the repeated Quran burnings and the perceived abuse of Islamic symbols.
Anti-Islam demonstrations in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, prompted protests in Baghdad, Iraq, with the Swedish embassy being overrun and set alight in response to the planned Quran burning in Stockholm. Middle Eastern states, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, summoned Swedish diplomats in protest, demanding that Sweden hand over the culprits involved in the Quran burning incidents.
