Path cleared for two Copenhagen mosques

Two projected mosques in Copenhagen now have official approval.

The Copenhagen city council Technical and Environmental Committee have approved local development plans for two mosques, one in the North West district of Copenhagen and one on Amager.

Heated debate
Plans for mosque construction have prompted a heated debate, with critics holding that the mosques would increase the influence from conservative Muslim circles in, for instance, Iran.

But to Mayor for Technology and the Environment, Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard, there is no doubt that the Muslim population of Copenhagen have the right to build "proper" mosques.

- We have freedom of religion in Denmark, and there are more than 50,000 Muslims in Copenhagen. Therefore, it is only natural that we ensure the possibility for Muslims, and for everyone else, to practice their religion. The opportunity to practice various religions is a part of a modern metropolis, says Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard, and emphasizes that the Muslim community will have to bear the cost of construction.

The question remains whether the Muslim community will be able to raise sufficient funds for the construction of the mosques. So far, that has been a major stumbling block for the project to construct a mosque in Njalsgade on Amager, which has been under way for twenty years.

City council to decide
In the end, the final decision will be left to the Copenhagen City Council, and Thursday night, Dansk Folkeparti demanded that the question of the construction of mosques be discussed one last time by the City Council before a local development plan including an Amager mosque is drawn up.

Translated by Martin Lamberth