With less than six months to go until Norway’s general election,increasing tensions over immigration and Islam appear likely to play asignificant role in the vote.
The leader of the country’s main opposition party has warned that itis facing “sneak-Islamisation”, while some prominent Muslims say theyface growing “persecution”.
The heated debate is asign that Norway, renowned as one of the most peaceful and tolerantnations in the world, is facing the same issues with its Muslimminority as are now familiar in other parts of Europe.
SivJensen, the 39-year-old leader of the opposition Progress Party, hasobjected to moves to introduce special measures in order to accommodateMuslims’ religious sensitivities, traditions and rules.
“Thereality is that a kind of sneak-Islamisation of this society is beingallowed,” she recently told a Progress Party conference. “We are goingto have to stop this.”
Opinion polls suggest the party could win as much as 30% of the votein the election for the national parliament, the Storting, inSeptember.
“If the Progress Party gets to governNorway, we will enforce Norwegian law and Norwegian rules. We are notgoing to allow special demands from any single group in society,” MsJensen added.