Seven years later: The Prime Minister confirms that the 2015 attack was an act of Islamist terrorism.
As the parliamentary elections approached, a number of parties began to address the defense of Danish values, the issues of immigrants, refugees, and integration, and this trend increased particularly among right-wing parties.
On Sunday evening, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Social Democratic Party – Center) posted a message on Facebook, beginning by discussing Danish values and how differing standards within them are a cause of societal breakdown. In her post, she criticized a Danish high school textbook that addresses the 2015 attack and describes the perpetrator as a young man with mental health issues. She asserted that the attack was an act of terrorism linked to Islam. The Prime Minister then touched upon parallel societies and integration problems in her post, linking the attack to these parallel societies, as stated in the post:
“If anything can destroy a society, it is the relativism of value. The idea that all values are equally good. If we, as a society, don't dare to define shared values, standards, and rules of the game, it will slowly crumble. I understand that a publisher has released some educational material aimed at secondary schools in which the perpetrator of the 2015 attack is not referred to as a terrorist, but rather as a troubled youth. I chose to respond because it is important for our society in many ways. If we start bending facts according to position and religion, democracy will erode. The attack in Copenhagen seven years ago was an Islamophobic terrorist attack, rooted in parallel societies and a lack of integration. The textbook is also problematic because it demonstrates a lack of authority in the world of education. Not all values are equal. And adults must have the courage to stand up and get in his way. I was Minister of Justice at the time. I attended the victims' funerals and grieved with their families; it was absolutely horrific. But I also discovered other things: many secondary school students who didn't believe it was terrorism. I saw the hundreds who attended the perpetrator's funeral.” And I saw the number of people who later supported the perpetrator. So, in some circles, there are significant challenges regarding the values we should share. If we don't stand firmly for our Danish values, our society will disappear before our eyes.”.
