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Denmark and Sweden Tighten Border Controls Amid Migrant Crisis

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A temporary fence is erected between domestic and international tracks at Hyllie train station in southern Malmo, Sweden, on Jan. 3, 2016, to ease border control preventing illegal migrants to enter Sweden.
A temporary fence is erected between domestic and international tracks at Hyllie train station in southern Malmo, Sweden, on Jan. 3, 2016, to ease border control preventing illegal migrants to enter Sweden.JOHAN NILSSON/TT/AFP/Getty Images
By Melissa Chan

Denmark on Monday stepped up its border controls with Germany on the heels of Sweden’s move to tighten security due to an influx of refugees.

Travelers coming from Germany will have to undergo spot checks, though the new measures weren’t expected to affect “ordinary” Danes and Germans crossing the border, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmusssen said, according to the Associated Press.

“We are introducing temporary border controls, but in a balanced way,” Loekke Rasmussen said. “If the European Union cannot protect the external border you will see more and more countries forced to introduce temporary border controls.”

The crackdown comes as Sweden introduced new ID checks for all passengers entering the country by train, bus or ferry after 160,000 people applied for asylum in the country last year, the AP reports. Danish Transport Minister Hans Christian Schmidt called the move sad and “extremely annoying,” according to the BBC.

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