In late December, Norway also announced its intention to raise border controls, with a new law drafted by its conservative minority that would turn back refugees who arrived without visas from Schengen zone countries.
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Anna Johansson, Sweden’s minister for infrastructure, said she was aware “of possible delays” and inconvenience for cross-border commuters, but said the measures were necessary.
She spoke during a visit to a migrant shelter in Athens on Tuesday, where about 560 people of various nationalities are being temporarily housed.
Although the new border controls are being called temporary measures, the root causes of the movement of asylum seekers are still the conflicts happening in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Without action, he said, the checks in Sweden could “increase the risk of a large number of illegal immigrants accumulating in and around Copenhagen”.
However rail commuters from Denmark to Sweden will now have to change trains at Copenhagen Airport and go through checkpoints.
Sweden took in 160,000 asylum requests a year ago, making it the highest per capita recipient.
German officials didn’t comment directly Monday on the Danish decision, but Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Loekke Rasmussen had spoken with the German leader.
Robert Fico said on Tuesday that the officers will be deployed Feb 1.
Denmark imposed temporary identity checks on its border with Germany oafter a similar move by Sweden, dealing a double blow to Europe’s fraying passport-free Schengen area amid a record influx of migrants. Margaritis Schinas, European Commission spokesperson, commented that “the goal of this meeting is to improve coordination between the concerned countries in order to ensure better management of the migratory pressure”.
He then imposed random ID checks on his country’s southern border with Germany, saying the measure would last for 10 days but may be extended.
The National Police added Wednesday a person suspected of human smuggling had been detained. No details were available. “It does not mean that everyone from Germany will be checked”.
“We all agreed that Schengen and free movement must be safeguarded”, Avramopoulos said.
The governor of Germany’s northernmost state says he regrets Denmark’s decision to tighten border controls but is welcoming the fact that it will only be carrying out spot checks.
“It’s not the same amount of people as the Mediterranean”.
The 31 officers – who left Monday from Budapest, the Hungarian capital, in several vans and other police vehicles equipped with heat sensors – will be deployed until February 4 to assist their Macedonian colleagues. Greece’s coast guard have been rescued hundreds people since the start of t…
Earlier, the private Dogan news agency said seven other bodies, including women and children, were discovered on the coast of Dikili, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Ayvalik.
The number of asylum seekers arriving by sea has also dropped sharply.
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News of the meeting was announced on Tuesday. Eight migrants were rescued. In Denmark, approximately 18,500 refugees applied for asylum previous year, while neighboring Norway had approximately 35,000, underscoring the uneven distribution of refugees across the 28-member union.
