Will Sweden close bridge link?

SWEDEN has drawn up emergency plans that could see it close the bridge leading to Denmark to stop the influx of migrants.

The five-mile crossing is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and links southern Sweden with Copenhagen. Sweden has the highest number of migrants per capita of any nation in Europe, but officials say it is now over-stretched.

Guards have already started identity checks on those crossing the Oresund bridge, which is the backdrop to the tel- evision series The Bridge. Anna Johansson, Sweden’s infrastructure minister, said the proposal was just part of contingency plans to be used only in an emergency, adding: ‘We hope this proposal will not have to be used.’

EU ministers will today discuss the future of the Schengen border-free travel zone at a meeting in Brussels.

They will look at a plan that could see checkpoints reintroduced as national borders for up to two years. At the moment they can be restored for only two months in case of an emergency.