Fear of terror and crime: Denmark extends border controls by six months

Enlarge image

Controls at the German-Danish border

Photo: AXEL HEIMKEN / AFP

Denmark will continue to control its borders for the next six months.

The government announced this to EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson last week, according to a letter from Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup.

The temporary border controls will therefore be extended until May 11, 2022.

The decision is justified with the continuing danger posed by militant Islamists and organized crime.

At the same time, Hækkerup informed Brussels that the border controls carried out in the wake of the corona pandemic will be lifted on October 25th.

Controls should be as limited as possible

After October 25, border controls will focus on the German-Danish border, the border over the Öresund to Sweden and the Danish ports with ferry connections to Germany and Sweden.

Hækkerup assured that the scope of the controls would be as limited as possible.

In the Schengen area, to which 26 European countries belong, there are actually no checks on persons at the borders.

After the refugee crisis, however, countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark and Sweden partially reintroduced such controls.

Some states have since extended the measures every six months.

as / dpa