Denmark Plans to Reinstate Guards at Borders

It seems like the tide is turning in Europe. Gone are the days when bleeding heart liberals were in control, allowing everyone with a sob story to migrate there to live off the tax funded welfare merry-go-round. People are now living with the consequences for allowing this third-world mass immigration invasion and they've had enough. Do you blame them? Well, I certainly don't because importing unskilled, uneducated people into your country today will ensure you pay for this over and over for many years into the future. The Danes are fortunate in that they have a coalition government who are dependent on the votes of the right-leaning, anti-immigration Danish People's Party. This has forced the coalition government to be harsh on border control in order to keep the DPP happy. The benefit is tighter border security and a clear message that Denmark is closed to economic third-world begging bowl migrants. Of course the bleeding hearts are outraged and want to allow more immigrants into Europe. Now, why aren't I surprised? But, in case you're worried that the EU aren't taking notice of the ongoing crisis of North African migrants  - they are! They are extremely worried about solving this issue and that's why they will be sitting on 24 June to vote about the border issue. Yes, that's right, at the end of June. That's how serious they are about helping Europe out in its hour of need.

BRUSSELS—The Danish government said Wednesday it would reinstate guards along borders with Sweden and Germany and conduct spot checks designed to fight crime and illegal migration. Although the move falls short of full reinstatement of border controls, it is the latest in a series of small steps reversing hassle-free travel across European Union frontiers.

The move was made for domestic political reasons—to satisfy a party in the ruling coalition that is skeptical about immigration—but it is a sign that opinion in Europe about open borders is changing following fears about unemployment and increased migration from tumultuous North Africa.

"We can't separate Denmark's announcement from the wider context of what we've been seeing the past few weeks," said Joanna Parkin, an analyst at the Centre for European Policy Studies, a Brussels-based think tank. Europe's backsliding on borders is "worrying", said Ms. Parkin.

Worries about immigration have been mainly concentrated in Italy and France, which have received the majority of a recent influx of 25,000 North Africans, mainly Tunisians, who left the country when the dictatorial regime collapsed and was no longer able to enforce its own borders. The two countries have demanded the EU changes its rules to allow them to restore some border controls.

Home-affairs ministers from the EU's 27 countries are meeting Thursday to discuss a proposal floated last week by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, suggesting a revamp of the bloc's migration policies.

The ideas, which will be voted on at a summit of EU leaders on June 24, includes widening the circumstances under which countries would be allowed to temporarily reinstate border controls. The Schengen agreement on lifting border controls, signed in 1985, allows countries occasional spot checks for reasons of national security.

Activists campaigning for more-open immigration policies say the post-Arab spring migration is only around 10% of annual migration to the EU. By comparison, more than 600,000 Libyans have left for Egypt and Tunisia since February, according to the EU.

In Denmark, the issue of tighter border control has become a political bargaining chip. The governing center-right minority government, which consists of a coalition between the Conservatives and liberal-right party Venstre, wants to raise the retirement age, cut retirement benefits and enact other austerity measures. In exchange for signing off on the deal, the right-leaning Danish People's Party has demanded the new border controls.

Danish Justice Minister Lars Barfoed, of the Conservatives, said the agreement will help enforce a needed crackdown on cross-border crime.

"Denmark should be a safe country, and we will do all it takes to fight the rise in cross-border crime committed in within our borders," Mr. Barfoed said, adding that the government has ensured that the tighter border control is carried out within the framework of the Schengen agreement and won't "impede the free crossing of borders by citizens and businesses."

The government said it had budgeted $52 million for patrol booths, surveillance equipment and wages for police and customs officials.

Denmark has sent a formal document to the European Commission notifying the EU of a new political agreement among the parties in the Danish government, said Marcin Grabiec, a spokesman for the European Commission. The Commission will now evaluate whether the Danish proposal is legal, he said.

The Schengen zone includes 22 EU countries and three from outside the EU. Other countries in the zone, such as Sweden, Norway and France, already carry out spot checks, said Marlene Wind, a professor at Copenhagen University.

Wednesday's announcement was "just oversold to cater to the electorate of Danish People's Party," she said. "Unfortunately, it also sends a signal to the outside world that Denmark is a small provincial village that wants to be left alone."

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