Denmark Extends Temporary Border Control for One Month

Denmark has extended the duration of its temporary controls on the border with Germany until June 2.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Denmark has prolonged the duration of its temporary controls on the border with Germany until June 2, the Danish Ministry for Immigration, Integration and Housing said Monday, citing an "extraordinary" inflow of refugees.

Border security on the Danish-German border was tightened on January 4 following a similar decision by Sweden. The Danish ministry said that continuing Swedish border controls and a "historically high" number of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Germany meant that many of undocumented migrants could be stranded in Denmark.

"Such accumulation could threaten public order and internal security in Denmark, and we must take it seriously. It is therefore necessary that we extend border controls," Migration Minister Inger Stojberg said, as cited on the ministry’s website.

Denmark has extended border controls on its southern border six times, most recently on April 3. The Nordic country invoked Schengen Area border regulations, which allow temporary border controls in case of a serious threat to a member nation’s public policy or internal security.