Sweden and Denmark are considering banning Quran burnings, as the actions endanger their security and have provoked strong protests in Muslim countries.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he was in close contact with his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, about a possible ban.

“We are in the most serious security situation since World War II, and we know here that both states, state-like actors and individuals can take advantage of the situation,” Mr Kristersson wrote on Instagram.

The Danish government announced it would consider legal remedies to ban Quran burnings before foreign embassies.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said religions are allowed to be criticised.

“But if you stand in front of a foreign embassy and burn a Koran or in front of the Israeli embassy you burn the Torah scroll, it serves no purpose other than to ridicule.

“This, however, endangers the collective security of the country,’’ he said.

Recently, small groups burned copies of the Quran during Islamophobic actions in Sweden and Denmark.

This led to angry protests and threats in several Muslim countries.

Reactions were extreme in Iraq, whose government expelled the Swedish ambassador.

Earlier, demonstrators in Baghdad broke into the Swedish embassy and set fire to it.

(dpa/NAN)