Future of Danish border checks raised in budget negotiations
Border checks on Denmark’s frontier with Germany, which have been in place since early 2016, are not financed in the current form of next year's budget, the Danish People's Party has said.
The budget, presented by finance minister Kristian Jensen last month, is currently subject to negotiation between the government and the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DF), whose votes are required to pass it in parliament.
No money has been earmarked in the budget to fund the continuation of border controls, DF leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl said on Wednesday.
“Unless the Danish People’s Party demands money allocated, border control will disappear at the turn of the year. There is no money for it in the budget negotiation,” Dahl said.
“We naturally can not accept the government’s policy of removing border control at the end of the year. We think that border control is here to stay and should be permanent,” the DF leader added.
Jensen said the government had good reason not to provide for extended border control in the budget.
“Since no decision has been made on whether border control should be extended, no money has been provided for it,” the minister said.
“The budget contains a number of different reserves – for negotiations and other things – so it is possible to prioritise border control,” he said.
Dahl said that his party would oppose any budget that does not take border control into account.
But Jensen said he was certain agreement would be reached between the government and DF.
“After the first meeting with the Danish People’s Party, I remain convinced that we can find common ground and that the political will is present,” he said.
“The topics raised by the Danish People’s Party are not surprising to us and we must now work towards agreement,” he said.
No parties other than the government and DF were invited to the negotiations over the budget.
READ ALSO: Nearly 5,500 turned back at Denmark's border since 2016
Comments
See Also
The budget, presented by finance minister Kristian Jensen last month, is currently subject to negotiation between the government and the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DF), whose votes are required to pass it in parliament.
No money has been earmarked in the budget to fund the continuation of border controls, DF leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl said on Wednesday.
“Unless the Danish People’s Party demands money allocated, border control will disappear at the turn of the year. There is no money for it in the budget negotiation,” Dahl said.
“We naturally can not accept the government’s policy of removing border control at the end of the year. We think that border control is here to stay and should be permanent,” the DF leader added.
Jensen said the government had good reason not to provide for extended border control in the budget.
“Since no decision has been made on whether border control should be extended, no money has been provided for it,” the minister said.
“The budget contains a number of different reserves – for negotiations and other things – so it is possible to prioritise border control,” he said.
Dahl said that his party would oppose any budget that does not take border control into account.
But Jensen said he was certain agreement would be reached between the government and DF.
“After the first meeting with the Danish People’s Party, I remain convinced that we can find common ground and that the political will is present,” he said.
“The topics raised by the Danish People’s Party are not surprising to us and we must now work towards agreement,” he said.
No parties other than the government and DF were invited to the negotiations over the budget.
READ ALSO: Nearly 5,500 turned back at Denmark's border since 2016
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.