This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Danish government has proposed a ban on Islamic full-face coverings in public spaces. “It is incompatible with the values in Danish society and disrespectful to the community to keep one’s face hidden when meeting each other in public spaces,” said the justice minister, Søren Pape Poulsen.

He added: “With a ban on covering the face we are drawing a line in the sand and underlining that in Denmark we show each other trust and respect by meeting face to face.”

The proposal will be assessed by non-governmental human rights organisations and possibly rewritten to take their remarks into consideration.

The centre-right government is expected to present a bill to parliament in the spring. With the support of the country’s second largest party, the anti-immigration Danish People’s party, the proposed legislation is likely to be adopted.

A violation of the ban would entail a fine of 1,000 kroner (£120). Repeated violations would lead to fines of up to 10,000 kroner.

Europe's right hails EU court's workplace headscarf ban ruling Read more

It is not known how many women wear the niqab and burqa in Denmark. “I don’t think there are many who wear the burqa here in Denmark. But if you do, you should be punished with a fine,” Poulsen said.

Last year the European court of human rights upheld a Belgian ban on wearing full-face veils in public.

France was the first European country to ban the niqab in public places, in 2011. In 2013 Spain’s highest court annulled a similar ban brought in three years earlier by the region of Catalonia.