The Danish government has formed an expert group to explore whether it’s legal to screen applicants for citizenship to see if they hold “anti-democratic” views.

The group of four will figure out whether it’s also practical or technically possible for the Danish government to screen people for those “expressions and attitudes,” the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration said in a release Tuesday.

“Danish citizenship is a major declaration of confidence from Danish society. As a foreigner, you have to earn it to be granted by the people’s government. At the current constitutional ceremony, applicants already swear allegiance and loyalty to Denmark. It is therefore quite natural that foreigners who receive Danish citizenship share our democratic values,” Danish Minister of Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad said.

His ministry announced late last year that it was singling out parts of the country’s Muslim community in particular.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing a spread of totalitarian attitudes among a minority of Muslims living here. Attitudes that we find completely unacceptable at home and that we must speak out against. Therefore, the government wants to learn more about whether it is possible to introduce screening of applicants for citizenship,” Mr. Dybvad said at the time.

He didn’t explicitly say which attitudes people applying for citizenship held that clashed with Danish democratic values.

The expert group will be chaired by Deputy Director of the Danish Immigration Service Henrik Thomassen.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.