Latest editorial
Germany voices concerns as Denmark restricts borders
GERMANY warned yesterday that freedom of movement in the EU was under threat after Denmark tightened border controls.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen announced heightened restrictions aimed at keeping out refugees on its southern border with Germany yesterday.
“We are introducing temporary border controls, but in a balanced way,” Mr Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen, adding there would be no problem for “ordinary” Danes and Germans crossing the border.
“If the European Union cannot protect the external border, you will see more and more countries forced to introduce temporary border controls,” he added.
The Danish decision came just hours after Sweden introduced ID checks for all passengers travelling by rail across the Oresund sea bridge from Denmark.
“This could lead to more refugees and migrants being stopped on their journey northward, and therefore ending up with us in Denmark,” Mr Rasmussen said.
German Foreign Minister Martin Schaefer said passport-free travel within the European Union — enshrined in the Schengen Agreement that was ratified in 1995 — was “perhaps one of the greatest achievements in the last 60 years.”
Mr Schaefer said the Schengen system “is very important, but it’s in danger due to the flow of refugees.”
Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said the Danish move “will have to be watched very carefully whether and how this affects migration northward from Germany.”
Earlier, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said Mr Rasmussen had spoken with the German leader.
Mr Seibert saids that Germany’s own controls on its border with Austria — introduced in mid-September — had been successful.
“But it is clear to all of us in Europe … that we need an overall European solution,” he said.
“The solution won’t be found at national borders between country A and country B.”
Mr Seibert renewed calls for “effective protection of our EU external borders.”
A refugee was slightly injured in the small hours of Monday when shots were fired at the centre where he was staying in Offenbach near Frankfurt.
And in the neighbouring Czech Republic, President Milos Zeman claimed the influx of refugees from the Middle East was an “invasion” organised by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Similar stories
Despite opposition from Greenland’s people and Denmark, Washington intends to control the Arctic territory one way or another. Strategic dominance, mineral wealth and military power are the driving forces at play, writes ROGER McKENZIE
The cancelled China trip of the German Foreign Minister marks a break with Helmut Schmidt’s China policy and drives Germany further into Washington’s confrontation course, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
