For the xenophobic Northern League’s newspaper “La Padania”, the building of a mosque in Greve is a disgrace, exactly like the idea of building a mosque in Ground Zero. Indeed, in their opinion, what is taking place is a clash of civilizations. The Greve’s Northern League group leader announced a referendum. The mayor of Greve, member of the Democratic Party, explained that Muslims have never asked the municipality to build a mosque, but only support to find a place for worship. However, the mayor continued, the Northern League is propagating that the municipality’s money would pay for construction of a mosque, and asks residents to oppose the construction. Although this false, is nevertheless gaining support among many politicians, even left wing parties. Despite all this, according to the mayor, cultural and religious diversity is a positive development, and has to be sustained and enhanced. For this reason, he has just started a programme with the help of local associations, to explain to people how to tackle the issue of integration and coexistence. He reaffirms that religious freedom is a constitutional principle and, indeed, has to be granted.
