Controls at Denmark’s border with Germany will be prolonged for an additional six months, Denmark’s Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
The decision introduced by Danish authorities due to “current migration pressure” came in spite of the fact that the country was under investigation by the European Union in the summer for allegedly extending frontier checks.
“Border controls are due to Islamist terrorist threat, organised crime, smuggling, Russian invasion of Ukraine, irregular migration along the Central Mediterranean route.”
In the border control notification published on the Home Affairs website for the European Commission, Denmark has also emphasised that it is controlling not only the land border with Germany but all ports with ferry connections to Germany.
Quran burnings in summer this year are also among the reasons that led Danish leaders to tighten their border controls. The decision was confirmed by the Ministry of Justice of Denmark on August 3 and was set to remain effective until August 10.
Since 2016, Denmark has continuously extended border controls. Such a decision led the Commission of the European Union to launch an official investigation into whether the border controls are illegal or not.
The implementation of such measure, according to the Commission, is a last resort and strictly limited in time.
A spokesperson from the EU Commission told Information that it has started the consultation process and is examining if the systematic prolongation of frontier checks is in line with the EU law.
“The Commission’s position is clear. The re-introduction of border controls must be exceptional, strictly limited in time, and a last resort. In order to assess whether the internal border controls are necessary, proportionate, and based on the existence of a new serious threat to public order or internal security, the Commission has started the formal consultation process, which is currently ongoing,”
Controls on the border with Germany have been prolonged since 2016, while in May this year, the Minister of Justice, Peter Hummelgaard, prolonged the controls for another six months. However, the initiation of border controls does not go against the EU law, according to him.
In addition to Denmark, several other European countries are introducing similar measures as part of efforts to halt irregular migration.
Recently, Slovakia extended border controls with Hungary until at least November 3, while Austria, Poland and Czechia unanimously introduced border controls at the country’s border with Slovakia over irregular migrant concerns.
