06 January 2016•Update: 07 January 2016
BRUSSELS
Sweden and Denmark on Wednesday defended their respective decisions to launch border controls to stem the refugee flow in a signal of scaling back generous asylum policies.
Sweden’s Migration and Justice Minister Morgan Johansson, Denmark’s Integration Minister Inger Stojberg and Germany’s State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Ole Schroder, met with European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, in Brussels to discuss Sweden and Denmark's new border controls.
Avramopoulos underlined the importance of protecting the Schengen borderless zone and free movement of citizens of EU member states. On Monday, Denmark announced it has stepped up its border control on its southern borders with Germany -- the same day as its neighbor Sweden reinforced border control for the first time since 1950s.
"Exceptional measures have been taken… we agreed to keep to minimum and return to normal as soon as possible," Avramopoulos told a joint news conference with the Swedish, Danish and German officials in Brussels on Wednesday.
Minister Johansson said his country’s border measures were "necessary".
"I think we all agree that the necessary measures that we have had to introduce should not be put in place longer than we need," Johansson said. "We also want to have a smooth exchange of people moving around in Europe."
Denmark has slammed Sweden for reinforcing border controls, saying it would result in asylum seekers being stranded in Copenhagen. Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the decision by Denmark to step up control on southern border with Germany was a reaction to Sweden’s border control with Denmark.
"In Denmark we don’t wish to be the final destination for thousands and thousands of asylum seekers," Danish Integration Minister Stojberg told the news conference after the meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
More than 150,000 people have sought asylum in Sweden, which has taken in the most refugees per capita of its population in Europe. Denmark is expecting 20,000 asylum seekers this year.
Known in the world for setting the standard of accepting refugees fleeing war and persecution back home, the Nordic nations have begun to dramatically scale back on their asylum policies.
On Dec.11, a majority of the Danish parliament voted in favor of a new carrier liability law, which gives transport companies the responsibility for checking passenger IDs.
"We are going to monitor the situation hour by hour and, if necessary, put on the carrier liability into force…. it can happen within a very short notice," Stojberg said in Brussels.
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in November last year that his country had been “naive” about immigration when he announced curbs to offering permanent residence to asylum seekers.
