(Image: News Oresund)
The recently published Finance Bill for 2020 shows that the Social Democratic government wants to continue the efforts for freedom of belief and religion that the previous government initiated with the Finance Bill for 2018.
The previous government appointed an ambassador for freedom of religion and belief, and Denmark also has an ambassador for climate and technology and digitalization (tech ambassador).
The ambassador heads a small unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which does not aim to build an organization in the ministry, but to ensure that the work for religious freedom is integrated into the ministry's other work, where relevant.
Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Michael Suhr, said in an interview with the Danish European Mission in January 2019: "The idea is that I flow between different parts of the ministry that deal with aspects of this topic. I have a small unit to support me and not to build an organization within the organization, but to act as a catalyst for the area and create focus and promote the integration of efforts in the different areas where freedom of religion or belief can play a role. We need to promote freedom of religion or belief externally, including for Christians in the world, but also internally, in terms of how we handle matters related to freedom of religion or belief in the ministry."
Read the full interview with Ambassador Michael Suhr here...
The efforts include mobilizing the international community so that religious freedom is no longer a forgotten human right. This work is done through an informal international contact group of like-minded countries of both Christian and Muslim countries under the auspices of the UN, but also through the EU.
Secretary General of the Danish European Mission, Samuel Nymann Eriksen, says: "Although we expected the new government to continue the good work started by the previous government, the new government's first budget proposal was awaited with some excitement, as the parties to the left of the political center have not shown clear support for persecuted Christians to the same extent as the blue bloc. It is therefore gratifying that the effort continues. As recently as two weeks ago, the Danish European Mission had a persecuted Christian in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, as on previous visits, the employees showed great interest in the first-hand knowledge we contributed".
