Kotka mulls mosque ban

Officials in the south-eastern city will later this month take a stand on a local council proposal to ban mosques.

In 2009, Finns Party councillor Freddy van Wonterghem made the proposal, which seeks to ban buildings “harmful to the cultural identity of the city.”

The proposal will come before the city planning board on August 21. Kotka city zoning chief Lars Olsson says current laws don’t provide for a ban on building mosques and says public debate is instead needed on Finns’ attitudes toward newcomers and representatives of different faiths.

Yle, 10 August 2012