The Danish government has decided to instate border checks with Sweden and prolong border controls with Germany for another six months, in a bid to strengthen the protection of borders. It will also strengthen police efforts in the border against Sweden.

According to a press release of the Denmark Ministry of Justice since February this month, residents of the metropolitan area have witnessed 13 blasts, with two of them towards public buildings.

“The police are of the opinion that the explosion at the Tax Agency was carried out on 6 August by criminals who had traveled across the border from Sweden to Denmark. And at the end of June this year, we witnessed a violent double murder on the open street in Herlev, which police believe was a showdown between rival gangs from Sweden. At the same time, the terror threat to Denmark remains serious,” the press release argues the decision of the ministry.

Minister of Justice Nick Hekkerup also asserts that the explosion at the Tax Agency and the double killing in Herlev are examples of the serious crime coming from the border with Sweden.

“We will not accept that. To counter the threat of serious cross-border crime, we are now strengthening the protection of the border against Sweden by introducing temporary border control and strengthening police efforts in border areas against Sweden. For the government, it has been crucial that we work in a smart and effective way,” he said adding that the focus is on the organized criminals and not the many ordinary citizens who cross the border every day.

The temporary border controls with Sweden will be launched from 12 November 2019, at the same time that the ones will Germany will be prolonged, both for another six months.

The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen had pledged to further tighten border controls since August, after two bomb blasts that took place in Copenhagen. The former PM of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen has proposed in May that Denmark should be introducing permanent border controls in order to deal with illegal migration and terrorism.

In the last few weeks both Austria and Germany have prolonged their internal borders, the first with Hungary and Slovenia, and the latter with Austria, for another six months as well.