Denmark to impose border controls

MOVE TO RESTRICT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND SMUGGLING, FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS

Denmark’s new foreign minister, Kristian Jensen, told his German counterpart that the country intends to impose border controls but within the rules governing the passport-free Schengen area, the foreign ministry said, confirming an earlier report.

Denmark imposed controls in 2011 for several months between Jutland, the only part of Denmark connected to continental Europe, and Germany, checking some cars but not passports. The European Union nevertheless complained.

The imposition of border controls, to restrict illegal immigration and smuggling, had been a key demand of the rightwing Danish People’s Party (DF) during coalition talks.

The centre-right Liberals party formed a government by themselves over the weekend after coalition talks collapsed but with just 34 seats out of 179 in parliament, the cabinet will be heavily dependant on DF in passing legislation.

DF’s other demands have been curbs on immigration and a referendum on whether Denmark should stay within the EU, once Britain conducts its vote by the end of 2017. It also wants higher state spending, contrary to its other right-wing policies.

Far-right crime in Germany soared 24 per cent last year to the highest level in six years, with a “shameful” surge in attacks on refugee centres, an official report released yesterday showed.

As the number of asylum seekers in Germany has risen, so has aggression against them, an annual report on politically motivated crime by the domestic security watchdog, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, found.

“Hatred and violence against refugees and asylum seekers in Germany are shameful,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said as he presented the findings for 2014.

Europe’s top economic power “has a responsibility to those who seek protection”, he said.

The report found that violent crimes motivated by rightwing extremism soared 24 per cent last year to 990.

Far-right attacks and xenophobic campaigns against refugee homes more than tripled during the same period to 170. Europe is grappling with a large influx of people fleeing war and poverty in the world’s crisis zones. Germany alone took in 200,000 asylum seekers last year.