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EU orders Sweden to shut down border checks

The European Union has ordered Sweden to end its border controls by mid-November, saying the reasons for putting them into place don't exist anymore.

EU orders Sweden to shut down border checks
Photo: Daniel Kihlström/TT

At a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, the EU’s migrant commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said it will not allow the Nordic country to extend its border controls between Sweden and Denmark.

“There won’t be an extension. The border controls are coming to an end in two months. The prerequisites for granting [the extensions] don’t exist anymore.”

During the height of Europe’s migrant crisis, Sweden was, along with Denmark, Germany, Austria and Norway, granted an exception from the Schengen free movement clause due to the huge influx of asylum-seeking migrants.

READ MORE: More asylum seekers detected by Swedish border checks after ID checks end

The border controls at ports in the south of Sweden and on the Swedish side of the Öresund Bridge to Denmark were brought in during the winter of 2015, a year where Sweden received a record 163,000 asylum applications. 

The measures in the passport-free Schengen zone were only supposed to be temporary and originally designed to last six months, but they were extended by a further half a year in May 2016, then three months more the following November.

According to EU rules, the extension can only be granted three times, and the last one is due to expire on November 12th.

The controls have been unpopular among commuters in the south of Sweden and in the Copenhagen region in Denmark, who have complained that they make journeys across the Öresund Bridge more time consuming. 

TRAVEL

Coronavirus: Sweden extends travel ban from Denmark

Sweden on Sunday announced an extension to the travel ban from Denmark until February 14th, over concerns of the new variant of coronavirus spreading.

Coronavirus: Sweden extends travel ban from Denmark
Illustration photo of Copenhagen airport. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix

The extension to the travel ban was confirmed at a digital press conference on Sunday January 24th, when the Swedish government announced a new travel ban on entry from Norway. The entry ban from the United Kingdom was also extended until February 14th.

On Saturday January 23rd, the Norwegian government introduced a series of very strict restrictions in Oslo and nine more municipalities due to an outbreak of the more contagious B117 coronavirus variant, first identified in Britain.

The British virus mutation already exists in Sweden. So far, about 50 cases have been confirmed, the vast majority of them are linked to people who have been abroad, according to the Swedish Public Health Agency.

“The ban applies from midnight until February 14th and can be extended if necessary”, Interior Minister Mikael Damberg said at the digital press conference on Sunday afternoon.

READ MORE: COVID UPDATE: Sweden bans travel entry from Norway

In December, the Swedish government announced a ban on travel into Sweden from both the UK and Denmark, due to the new coronavirus variant in the countries. The ban was initially due to last a month.

It was the first time during the pandemic that the Scandinavian country closed the border on one of its neighbours. 

Swedish citizens are exempt from the entry ban, as are non-citizens who live or work in Sweden, and people working in the transportation of goods.
 
The B117 coronavirus variant has previously been estimated to be between 50-74 percent more infectious than established forms of Covid-19.

It is expected to comprise 50 percent of all Covid-19 variants in circulation in Denmark by the middle of February, according to a new report issued by the State Serum Institute (SSI).

It has been traced to have first appeared in Denmark in November, but was reported to have become established in the south east of England in December.

READ ALSO: How could infectious Covid-19 variant impact Denmark's infection numbers?

 

 

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