(TJV NEWS) Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch has proposed a nationwide ban on burqas and niqabs in all public spaces, arguing that the country must confront what she describes as the dangers of strict Islamist practices and protect Swedish social values.

Speaking to Aftonbladet, the Christian Democrats (KD) leader said she envisions legislation that would prohibit full-face coverings in streets, squares, shops, healthcare facilities, and other public venues — expanding on previous local bans on the garments in schools and workplaces, which were blocked under current law.

“You should be able to meet people face-to-face when you are on the street, shopping, or taking children to the health center. I don’t want to encounter someone whose entire face is covered,” Busch told the newspaper, according to ReMix News.

Busch described the garments as symbols of rigid interpretations of Islam common in totalitarian states, which she said are incompatible with Swedish society. “Islam must adapt in Sweden. You can be a proud Swedish Muslim, Christian, Jew, or atheist, but there are fundamental Swedish values that must apply to us all,” she said.

Clarifying whether her proposal would ban the garments outside the home, Busch stated: “Yes, that’s it. We cannot—and should not—control what people do at home. But the burqa does not belong in Sweden, and we will not pave the way for it,” ReMix News reported.

The deputy prime minister also criticized opponents of dress regulations as victims of “very naive liberalism,” which she said has contributed to the country’s struggling integration policies. Busch highlighted that roughly a quarter of a million young people in Sweden live under conditions resembling honor-based oppression, and nearly 70,000 women have undergone female genital mutilation.

“You are welcome to be a Muslim in Sweden, but not in the way Islam is practiced in Iran or Afghanistan,” she said. “We cannot allow totalitarian Islamist practices to take root here, and those already in Sweden must adapt.”

Sweden’s Education and Integration Minister Simona Mohamsson, leader of the Liberal Party, voiced support for stronger measures against religious oppression, including forced veiling, though she stopped short of fully endorsing Busch’s proposed ban. “Burqa and niqab are oppressive garments that assume women should not be visible in public space,” Mohamsson told ReMix News.

The Christian Democrats will vote on Busch’s proposal at their national congress in mid-November. Her stance aligns closely with that of the Sweden Democrats, whose leader Jimmie Åkesson has repeatedly called for more radical measures to curb what he describes as Sweden’s Islamization.

Similar debates are taking place across Europe. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV, has called for a ban on new mosque construction, while Spain’s Vox party highlighted a doubling of mosques over the past decade as evidence of “suicidal migration policies.” Several European nations already maintain bans on full-face coverings, including France (2010), Belgium (2011), Austria (2017), Denmark (2018), and Switzerland (2025). Other countries, such as the Netherlands and Bulgaria, enforce partial or local restrictions.

Last week, Italy’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, announced plans for similar legislation. “Religious freedom is sacred, but it must be exercised in the open, respecting our constitution and the principles of the Italian state,” FdI MP Andrea Delmastro said, according to ReMix News.