Denmark has decided to tighten its border controls in an attempt to prevent unwanted people from the country and to boost security following recent Quran burnings.
Announcing the news, the Ministry of Justice of Denmark said that strict border controls would initially remain in place for a period of seven days. The border controls were officially tightened yesterday, August 3, and they will be effective until August 10.
“Based on the ongoing development in the threat picture, the authorities have today assessed that it is currently necessary to strengthen the focus on who is travelling into Denmark in order to counter the concrete and current threats that Denmark is facing. For the time being, the intensified border efforts are expected to be maintained up to and including August 10, 2023,” the statement of the Ministry reads.
As Reuters explains, the authorities of Denmark fear revenge attacks after anti-Islam activists damaged as well as burned several copies of the Muslim book in recent months. For this reason, measures have been seen as necessary.
In the last week, a small group of far-right activists in Denmark burned over ten copies of the Quran, and they said that they plan on burning more of them at two forthcoming demonstrations on Friday and at three more events planned to take place over this weekend.
Condemning the Quran burnings, the Danish government said that the country is considering new laws that would put an end to this.
Moreover, the Minister of Justice of Denmark, Peter Hummergaard, said that they are following developments closely and, at the same time, stressed that the country took the right decision by intensifying the border controls.
“In my view, the intensified border efforts underline the seriousness of the matter. The government and the authorities are following developments very closely,” Minister Hummergaard stated.
The decision of Denmark to tighten the border controls for people entering its territory follows a similar move by Sweden.
The Swedish authorities said earlier this week that the country wants to tighten its border controls due to security concerns following Quran burning controversies.
Sharing the country’s plans, the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, said that they will introduce a new law that will help deal with the current situation.
According to him, the law will give additional power to the country’s police to carry out identity checks as well as body and vehicle searches at the border.
Additionally, Sweden also wants to expand electronic border surveillance to keep all forms of movement in check.
