Brussels, 01/07/2015(Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 30 June, Denmark announced that it intended to carry out controls in its cross-border areas in an effort to fight against illegal immigration, according to an announcement made by the country's new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kristian Jensen.
After meeting his German counterpart in Berlin, the Danish Minister informed the Ritzau press agency that “we will be proposing something in compliance with the Schengen texts and there will be a dialogue with Brussels and the European Commission, as well as our neighbours”.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs explained that the project would seek to fight against illegal immigration and the trafficking of human beings. Speaking on behalf of the Minister, a spokesperson explained “There will be no barrier at the border… And this is not… On the border. There will be controls in the cross-border areas”.
Denmark is a neighbour of both Germany and Sweden and part of the Schengen area of free movement since 2001. During the Arab Spring, the Danish Conservative government also announced strengthened controls, particularly for customs, before the elections that saw the government of the social liberal Helle Thorning Schmidt take over that September, which was in office until very recently.
The European Commission has been “informed” about these projects and on Wednesday 1 July provided its response, explaining that it would only give its point of view once these control measures were being implemented. The Commission points out that the Schengen Border Code authorises controls in cross-border areas as long as they do not become systematic or create the same impact as border controls. (Solenn Paulic)