Danish police have temporarily tightened border controls, following a similar move by Sweden, the Danish Justice Ministry has informed, following burnings of copies of the Koran in recent months. “I note that the authorities have considered that, for a limited period, it is necessary to intensify the efforts of the Danish border police for security reasons,” Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said in a statement on Thursday. gave the green light to this measure to remain in force until August 10, 2023.
The fact that the Danish police, after evaluation of the intelligence services, expressed this need “underlines the gravity of the situation”, continues the minister. The government “is following developments in the situation very closely,” he said. These reinforced controls at Denmark’s borders were put in place the same day that Sweden implemented a similar decision.
Swedish embassy in Baghdad burnt down
In concrete terms, nationals of other countries in the Schengen area are now subject to increased security checks when they want to travel to Sweden. These two Scandinavian countries felt that the threat increased as more desecrations of the Koran took place on their soil.
These actions have indeed given rise to condemnations and unrest in several Muslim countries: the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was set on fire before being temporarily repatriated to Stockholm after the Koran was desecrated by two men in front of the embassy in Iraq in this same city and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said it was “disappointed” by the absence, according to it, of measures taken by Sweden and Denmark in the face of this phenomenon.
Last week, the Danish authorities said they wanted to limit possible new demonstrations involving the destruction of copies of the Koran, while respecting freedom of expression. On the Swedish side, the government is examining the possibility of giving more prominence to internal security aspects when assembly requests are examined by the police, without limiting freedom of expression.