Immigration security

No Citizenship Without Handshake, Danish Immigration Ministry Says

Aspiring citizens must greet officials in a respectful fashion or forgo the hopes of ever attaining Danish citizenship, Denmark's "blue" government said, triggering several mayors, who promised civil disobedience.

As new citizenship rules are being drafted, the Danish government wants to make it mandatory for people to shake hands with the mayors of their respective municipalities during citizenship ceremonies, the newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported.

"The handshake is the accepted way of greeting people in Denmark. That's the way we show respect for each other in this country. That's why it's a natural part of this ceremony," Immigration Minister Inger Støjberg of the Liberal Party told the daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

According to the Social Democrats, the Danish People's Party (DF) and the Conservatives, shaking hands should be a legal requirement.