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Stram Kurs (), () is a far-right, Nationalism, Islamophobia political party in Denmark and Sweden founded in 2017 by Danish-Swedish lawyer Rasmus Paludan. The party is almost exclusively associated with its founder and his anti-Islam activism and demonstrations.Multiple sources:
(2023). 9781000897036, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000897036
(2020). 9780429263736, Routledge. ISBN 9780429263736
The party was on the ballot in the 2019 Danish general election, where it gained 1.8% of the votes, below the 2% election threshold.
Paludan became known on YouTube, where videos on the party's channel have gained 20 million views as of April 2019. The videos were often filmed during demonstrations that Hard Line held in ghettoes, during which Paludan deliberately provoked Muslims, such as by drawing Muhammad to raise awareness. In 2018, the party held 53 demonstrations.
The party gained mainstream attention on 14 April that year, when Paludan held a demonstration at Nørrebro in Copenhagen. At the demonstration, Paludan threw the Quran, and was attacked shortly after the demonstration began. The demonstration caused massive unrest at Nørrebro when protestors attacked the police. Over the following days, Paludan was barred from continuing his demonstrations because of the risk to public order and the threats against him.
In early May 2019, polls showed the party with 2.7% and 3.9% support, over the threshold of 2.0% required for a party to win seats in parliament. On 9 May, an older YouTube video of Paludan holding a speech about Islam and 9/11 surfaced on the internet. Danish media began reporting on the video because a statement by Paludan was interpreted as a call to violence and genocide of Muslims. "The best thing that could happen would be not to have a single Muslim left on our dear Earth" is the rough translation of the quote from the video, filmed during a visit to New Jersey. Danish lawyer Jacob Mchangama was quoted as saying that Paludan's statement was, in all likelihood, a violation of Grundloven.
At the general election on 5 June 2019, Hard Line won 1.8% of the votes, and did not receive any seats in the Folketing.
In March 2020, Hard Line was banned from collecting new voter declarations until September 2022, after the independent election board found that Hard Line had misused the voting declaration system. The party had already been temporararily suspended in December 2019, following suspicions of fraudulent use. Their ballot access was scheduled to expire in October 2020. To circumvent the ruling, Hard Line instead founded a new party, legally named Hard Line (as opposed to Stram Kurs). Paludan called the new party a "sister party", and said the new party would have the same policy and candidates as Stram Kurs, and that the intent was that they should fusion into one party again in the future. The Ministry of the Interior found the creation of the new party to be legal.
In June 2019, a 17-year-old was sentenced for attacking police officers, and given eight months in prison, as well as a warning, in accordance with Danish immigration regulations. He was found to have thrown rocks, glass bottles and fireworks at police. The following month, a 26-year-old man was found guilty of having thrown rocks at police and sentenced to a year in prison. In September that year, two men aged 18 and 35 respectively, were found guilty of disturbing the peace and using violence against police. The 35-year-old received a sentence of 9 months in prison and the 18-year-old received 8 months in prison. Additionally, the family of the 18-year-old, who was 17 when he committed the crimes, was evicted by the public landlord, as they had demonstrably disturbed the peace in the area.
On 10 September 2020, Hard Line burned a Quran in the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, and posted the event on a video platform. The party had previously applied for permission to hold the event at five locations, but the Swedish Police authority denied it permission. The desecration was caught on surveillance cameras and police started to look for party members. Police later stopped two vehicles and arrested seven people, who were armed with batons and steel pipes, for preparing assault. Some of the arrested had connections to the Antifascistisk Aktion (Antifa Sweden), who were looking for the party members. In connection with the event, 15 Muslim congregations demanded that the Basic Laws of Sweden be changed to ban insult and ridicule of religions, so that the perpetrators of these events are no longer protected by laws guarding freedom of speech.
Ethnic and national homogeneity are to be secured through a large-scale deportation programme, described in party materials:
Denmark must deport every non-Western person who has received asylum and is not a native-born citizen of one Denmark's neighbouring countries. Denmark must deport every non-Western person who isn't a Danish citizen. For non-Westerners with temporary visas, the visa will not be renewed. Non-Westerners with permanent legal status should also have their status revoked and be deported.Foreigners who have received Danish citizenship by the legal naturalisation process should have their citizenship reevaluated, with the assumption that it will be annulled. Foreigners who have received asylum in Denmark, should of course be deported immediately, given that the foundation for asylum is no longer valid. This applies to their offspring, as well.
Every person without legal status in Denmark shall be interned until they can be deported. Individuals who lack legal status while they wait for response to a visa application will be deported while the case is under review. If deportation isn't possible, the applicant should be interned while the application is reviewed.
In March 2020, Hard Line (legally named Stram Kurs) was barred from collecting voter declarations for 2 and a half years, due to fraudulent use of the system. Since June 2020, Stram Kurs has instead collected voter declarations under the name "Hard Line", which is legally a distinct party. Paludan has characterised the new party as a "sister party" of Stram Kurs, and said that it will have the policies and candidates of Stram Kurs. Should the new party manage to gain ballot access, they would appear on the ballot as "Hard Line".
| Folketing | |||||
| 2019 | 63,091 | 1.8 (11th) | New | New | |
| Riksdag | |||||
| 2022 | 156 | 0.0 (30th) | New | New | |
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