Free Republic

Denmark is moving towards a nationwide ban on the Islamic call to prayer, with senior ministers arguing the public broadcast of the adhan has no place in the country's soundscape. The proposal has triggered fierce debate over religious freedom, integration and whether the measure crosses a constitutional line. The proposed ban has become one of the most contentious religious policy discussions in Denmark in recent years, with supporters framing it as a defence of secular public space and critics warning it risks marginalising religious minorities. Why Morten Bødskov Wants Denmark to Ban the Islamic Call to Prayer Morten Bødskov, Denmark's...

Denmark is planning to ban the Islamic call to prayer, with the country's immigration minister claiming parts of the nation risk sounding like 'a suburb of Islamabad'. 'It has no place in Denmark, and you shouldn't be in any doubt whether you've ended up in a suburb of Islamabad when you walk around Denmark.' The Adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, is traditionally broadcast five times a day to summon worshippers to mosques, often through loudspeakers mounted on minarets. Bødskov's proposal marks the third attempt by a Danish immigration minister to establish a legal framework for banning the practice, following...

On March 21, 2026, the Danish Free Press Society awarded Raymond Ibrahim with the Sappho Prize. This video contains the official award ceremony, including Mr. Ibrahim’s talk, which took place in Copenhagen. In a press release, the Danish Free Press Society explained why Raymond Ibrahim was awarded the 2026 Sappho Prize. An excerpt follows: “For more than two decades, Raymond Ibrahim has been one of the most rigorous and intellectually consistent voices in the international debate on Christian persecution, Islamism, and the historical conflicts between Islam and the West. His work is grounded in extensive study of primary sources —...

Live Science reports that a new study of Viking coins from the Damhus hoard, a cache of 226 pennies unearthed in Denmark near the site of the Viking town of Ribe in 2018, suggests that they contain silver recycled from Islamic coins. The 1,000-year-old coins, known as pennies, bear a face on one side thought to represent the Norse god Wodan or Odin, with a stag on the reverse. Thomas Birch of the National Museum of Denmark said that each coin would have been enough to buy ale, bread, or simple tools. Analysis of the coins also shows that when...

Almost all media commentators seem convinced that Donald Trump’s foreign policy in his second term is a disaster. He is bogged down in Iran, snookered in Ukraine, his tariff agenda has failed and he has alienated his NATO allies. But this consensus has been too hastily formed. Looking at the bigger global picture, Trump’s foreign policy has been a spectacular success. Take the western hemisphere. We have the so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” the updated version of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine. In 1822, president James Monroe, having welcomed South America’s overthrow of Spanish and Portuguese imperial rule, stated that Latin American nations...

In an unprecedented move, 22 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, and Australia, issued a joint statement condemning the Islamic Republic of Iran for what they called “hostile actions and extraterritorial operations against individuals on the soil of other countries,” and demanded the immediate cessation of such actions. In the statement, published on Thursday, June 11, the Islamic Republic’s security services were accused of using local and international criminal networks to carry out assassination plots, kidnappings, intimidation, and harassment against dissidents, journalists, and citizens in Europe, North America, and Oceania. The signatories emphasized that attempts...

Greenland police said they apprehended veteran environmental activist and anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson on an international arrest warrant issued by Japan. Watson, a 73-year-old Canadian-American citizen, is a former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society whose direct action tactics, including high-seas confrontations with whaling vessels, have drawn support from A-list celebrities and featured in the reality television series “Whale Wars.” He was arrested Sunday when his ship docked in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, a police statement said. He later appeared before a district court to look into a request to detain him pending a decision on his possible extradition to...

Denmark is one of the rare European countries to publish crime data by country of origin. Somalis top the list when it comes to rapes, fraud, forgeries and grievous assaults. Palestinians lead in burglaries, blackmail and theft. Data: Statistics Denmark (STRAFNA4, FOLK1C), compiled by @jonatanpallesen.

Denmark is one of the few countries in Europe that keeps detailed crime statistics based on country of origin and immigration background. And when you read those numbers, you begin to understand why some politicians across Europe prefer not to open this discussion at all. According to the official data, there are immigrant groups that are significantly overrepresented in violent crime and sex offenses compared to the native population. In the case of Palestinians in Denmark, the rape offense rate is reportedly 12 times higher than that of native-born Danes. Unlike much of Europe, Denmark has adopted stricter immigration policies,...

INTRODUCTION On April 29, 2026, Sen. Bernie Sanders convened a 75-minute panel in the US Capitol on “the existential threat of AI.” Two of the four panelists were Chinese government affiliates: Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance, and Xue Lan, a Tsinghua University professor who chairs China’s national AI governance expert committee and serves as a Counsellor of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. From a US Senate platform, Xue called the US-China AI race “an inaccurate narrative” and argued for “safe zones” of cooperation on AI safety. The event was...

When it comes to vaccine policy, the U.S. government is holding up Denmark as a role model...The Scandinavian nation of 6 million gives children far fewer vaccines than the United States has done... The new U.S. schedule follows Denmark’s example. It no longer recommends that all children get vaccinated for half a dozen diseases: hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19. Instead, administering these shots should be “based on shared clinical decision-making” between parents and doctors, HHS says. The move elicited widespread criticism from doctors and public health experts—but it also drew attention to Denmark’s minimalist vaccination...

The United States of America is in active talks with Greenland and Denmark to expand its military presence in Greenland. US officials are seeking to open three new bases in the south of the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, as they work to resolve a diplomatic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump when he threatened to seize Greenland by force. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, mentioned on Tuesday that increasing the U.S. military presence in the Arctic territory was ‌part of ongoing negotiations with Washington, as the United States’ desire to own or control the territory remains alive The...

Zimbabwe will return dozens of foreign-owned farms seized more than two decades ago during a land reform drive, but is not reversing the contested policy, the agriculture minister said Friday. The land grab was launched by longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in 2000, with thousands of white farmers evicted, often violently, and their land redistributed to black Zimbabweans The government will return 67 farms covered by bilateral investment pacts "but which remained un-occupied" to the investors, Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said in a statement. The investors are from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. More than 400 white farmers would be...

After weeks of negotiations, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has failed to form a government... King Frederik X has now asked Liberal Party leader Troels Lund Poulsen to lead talks...Under the King's mandate, Poulsen is now expected to explore the formation of a government that excludes both the Social Democrats and the Moderates, signalling a major shift to the right in Denmark's political landscape.The move came after weeks of difficult coalition talks following Denmark's fragmented March snap election, which saw 12 parties enter parliament, with only three winning more than 10% of the vote.Although Frederiksen's Social Democrats recorded their weakest...

An eco-warrior politician has sparked outrage in Denmark after she defended guidelines limiting residents of government-run nursing homes to just 2.8 ounces of beef a week — which is less than one Big Mac. Birgitte Kehler Holst of the left-wing green Danish party The Alternative was also accused of saying old people in nursing homes should be “punished” by restricting their meat intake in comments made in a meeting of Copenhagen’s City Council on April 30. She was speaking against plans to exclude nursing home residents from guidelines in the Danish capital that restrict meals at government-run sites to just...

A gold brooch attributed to the Late Germanic Iron Age has been uncovered in Denmark by metal detectorist Mikkel Warming. The object is provisionally dated to the mid-6th century AD based on typological characteristics, although further specialist assessment is required.The find was identified following a non-distinct metal-detecting signal consistent with low-value metallic debris. Subsequent excavation revealed a gold object at shallow depth within compact soil. No immediate surface indicators distinguished the signal from common modern refuse...The brooch measures approximately 40 mm in length. Its surface is densely decorated with repeated circular motifs arranged in a highly regular pattern. The ornamentation...

The academic turned antiquities dealer who exposed the theft of hundreds of artefacts from the British Museum has died aged 61. Dr Ittai Gradel, from Denmark, alerted the British Museum and the police after he was able to buy dozens of museum artefacts on eBay over the course of several years. Gradel died of renal cancer days after receiving a rarely presented medal from the museum in recognition of what its director called his “very significant contribution”, according to the BBC. A police investigation is still ongoing, more than three years after the museum reported the thefts to Scotland Yard...

A useful rule of thumb is that when a problem persists for decades despite serious effort, the failure is usually not one of effort or intelligence, but of framing. Climate change sits squarely in this category. We have poured talent, capital, policy, and good intentions into solving it, and yet the core dynamics continue to worsen. This suggests that something foundational is off in how we are thinking about the problem. One of the clearest illustrations of that deeper issue sits far from financial centers and climate summits, in the Arctic. About 50 years ago, Denmark made a decision that...

More than 200 years after being sunk by Adm. Horatio Nelson and the British fleet, a Danish warship has been discovered on the seabed of Copenhagen Harbor by marine archaeologists. Working in thick sediment and almost zero visibility 15 meters (49 feet) beneath the waves, divers are in a race against time to unearth the 19th-century wreck of the Dannebroge before it becomes a construction site in a new housing district being built off the Danish coast. Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum, which is leading the monthslong underwater excavations, announced its findings on Thursday, 225 years to the day since the...

🚨BREAKING: Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece have formed a 'deportation coalition' They say they want plans to have migrant deportation return centres developed before the end of 2026 Something is finally happening!