Finland’s Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb is not in favour of a ban on wearing the burkha face-veil. He told the provincial paper Satakunnan Kansa that diversity should be respected. He added banning the burkha sends the wrong message from Europe to the Muslim world.
A ban was not the right answer, Stubb said, even though he does not favour women wearing the garment.
“In all honesty, I don’t like to see a woman wearing the burkha face-veil but interfering with her right by means of a legal ban is no solution,” he said.
The French parliament recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of imposing a ban on wearing the burkha. If ratified by the Senate, it would the garment’s use in public places.
Satakunnan Kansa estimates around one 100 Muslim women wear the face-covering burkha veil in Finland.