Denmark’s government said Friday that it would move to criminalise the public mistreatment of religious objects, setting aside free-speech concerns with what one minister called a “targeted intervention” after a spate of public Quran desecrations caused furores in many Muslim-majority countries.

Those found guilty of mistreating an object with major religious significance could be fined or sentenced to up to two years in prison, according to a draft of a bill published by the Danish justice ministry. Danish coalition officials said they could enact the policy as soon as the end of the year if it is approved by parliament.

Denmark and neighbouring Sweden have struggled to balance respect for free expression with the diplomatic fallout of the desecrations. Governments in many Muslim-majority countries have issued withering condemnations, and authorities in both countries have said that the risk of terrorist attacks has risen in recent months, posing a threat to national security.

After a small group of Danish nationalists filmed themselves burning what they said was a Quran late last month, hundreds of Iraqi protesters tried to storm Denmark’s embassy in Baghdad before security forces dispersed them. On Sunday, Iranian authorities summoned Danish and Swedish diplomats to chastise them over another series of desecrations in both countries.

Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters that there had been more than 170 demonstrations, including some with Quran burnings, in front of the embassies of Muslim-majority countries and elsewhere in Denmark over the past month. The protests, which are generally small, often denounce Islam and Muslim immigration.

Justice minister Peter Hummelgaard characterised the proposal as a “targeted invention” against Quran burnings that “damage the security of Danes both abroad and at home”.