Denmark: Invest money in democracy in Danish ghettos

Søren Espersen and Morten Messerschmidt of the Danish People's Party want to stop the money going to the Arab Initiative (Det Arabiske Initiativ). The initiative is a Danish gov't project to expand democracy in the Middle East. Twenty million kroner are dedicated to it this year, but according to the two politicians, the money should go to expanding democracy in Denmark.

Morten Messerschmidt say he thinks that the money should be used in Danish ghettos, where the riots in the last few days have shown there there is not much respect for police authority and for Danish society. In stead of sending 100 million kroner to Arab countries, we must first attempt to create respect for democracy here.

The two support Mehdi Mozafferi, professor of Islamic studies at Aarhus University, who says the money should be used to expand the understanding of democracy in Denmark.

Søren Espersen: Like Mozafeeri says, if we can't explain the value of democracy to residents of Middle-Eastern origin living here in the country, how in the world will we then be able to explain it to citizens in the Middle East.

The proposal of the two will be discussed for the finance law next year.

Source: Nyhedsavisen (Danish)

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