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CHAPTER I – A visit to the Danish border

The men who are supposed to keep Islamic terrorism out of Denmark are busy standing and staring in the cold. If standing becomes unbearable they walk back and forth, chat with colleagues or take a cigarette break.

A chilling Tuesday in November. The security forces at the Danish border in Padborg wear winter jackets, hats and gloves. Equipped with a red “STOP”-signalling disk they control the traffic from Germany. The checkpoint consists of nothing more than a tent roof surrounded by traffic signs, a big orange-flashing arrow and a speedbump. At the roadside, a faded billboard commemorates the German-Danish Europe Day of 1997.

As cars approach with low speed, the policemen peer into the cockpit. In most cases, they wave the cars through with a brief hand signal.

The men wave a lot this day.

“In memory of the German-Danish Europe Day 1997”: This sign is located only a few meters away from the checkpoint in Padborg. Photos: Thomas Balbierer

Padborg is one of 15 crossings between Germany and Denmark and one of three around-the-clock controlled checkpoints. The frontier is guarded by the Rigspolitiet, the Danish National Police. The government argues, the checks would be “a necessary tool to manage the migratory flows and ensure the security of our citizens.” Copenhagen suspects Islamic terrorists to threaten the country. Critics say, the checks are ineffectual and would undermine the idea of Europe.

Permanent checks have been absent for many years in most of Europe. The Schengen Borders Code, signed by 26 countries, formed the world’s largest passport-free area. Politicians were proud of this achievement.

Click on the image to learn more about the history of Schengen

With the refugee crisis unfolding in 2015 and 2016, controls returned. No passport, no entry. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France and Austria manned their frontiers to manage the influx of asylum seekers. Meanwhile, the number has clearly decreased. The controls continue.

Because the Danish Police did not want a journalist to attend the checkpoint, I recorded the here included video and photos standing on a footway on the German side of the road. When I was less than 10 meters away from the provisional checkpoint, two young uniformed policemen approached me. “Can you identify yourself?”, they asked and checked my ID and press card. After a short conversation about my work on this article, I asked them what they thought about the border. One of them grimaced. They didn’t answer.

Then they walked back to the border.

The focus on terrorism and border controls complicates the ordinary police work. That’s the result of a recent report published by Rigsrevisionen, Denmark’s national audit office. The two areas made up to one fifth of the police time during certain months in 2016 and 2017. The police districts lacked the men sent to the frontier. Therefore, the “police response time has risen from 2014 to 2017, and the citizens’ safety has dropped from 2016 to 2017”, the Rigsrevisionen-report states.

The National Police reacted and called in soldiers and police cadets for assistance.

CHAPTER II – Food transports and stop-sign policy

A few minutes away from the checkpoint in Padborg, Mogens Therkelsen sits in a meeting room. Three oil paintings on the wall portray three smiling gentlemen with little hair. Therkelsen points to the first one and says: “This is my grandfather Nils. He founded our company in 1918. Next to him: my father Hans Peter. And the third painting, that’s me, Mogens.” It is the ancestral line of a traditional European family company. With more than 200 trucks, H. P. Therkelsen orchestrates the transportation of food products through whole Europe.

Mogens Therkelsen criticises that the border controls would interfere with the steady flow of goods.

“Padborg is our gate to the world”, Mogens Therkelsen says. But currently, it is a gate with a speedbump in front of it. “These controls do not belong into the European Union”, Therkelsen says. He criticises, the ongoing checks would interfere with the steady flow of goods.

Therkelsen’s trucks cover 20 million kilometres a year.

Find the described spots and places in this map

“Every minute counts”, the businessman says. The EU has strictly regulated the driving period of professional drivers. They are not allowed to drive for more than 9 hours a day. Delays caused by controls or border traffic could force the drivers to take a break even before arriving at the destination. “Planning becomes more erratic”, Mogens Therkelsen says.

From an economic point of view, borders no longer have a place in the EU. The EU Commission has calculated what a comeback of internal border controls could cost. According to the analysis, the road haulage sector would be hit by additional expenses of up to 7,5 billion Euro a year. Companies like H. P. Therkelsen would be the biggest losers of a relapse to the pre-Schengen era.

Ineffectual or necessary? Compare the rates between controlled and rejected people at the border in 2018 (Click on the image to open our digital infographic)

However, Denmark has recently prolonged the checks until 11^th of May 2019. In a letter to the EU Commission, the Danish Minister for Immigration, Inger Støjberg, argued, terrorists could use “the possibility to move freely within the Schengen territory to plan, prepare and execute terrorist attacks.” That was why Denmark would not “get ‘back to Schengen’ at this point in time.”

Thomas Andresen, mayor of Aabenraa – a municipality with 60.000 people in Southern Jutland – counters: “We know the border here very well and we can say that the controls do not make any sense. Terrorists could use other ways to enter the country if they plan to.” Smaller crossings are only randomly checked.

For Andresen, the controls are due to the political situation in Copenhagen where the Venstre-led (conservative-liberal) minority government makes deals with the right-wing Dansk Folkeparti to get majority votes in parliament.

Thomas Andresen is mayor of Aabenraa and opposes the border controls. Photo: Rune Hoejer

Andresen himself is a Venstre-politician. “But I have to draw attention to what the decision means for our municipality”, the mayor says. The local economy depends on about 3.500 German commuters. Schengen made their lives easier. “My duty is to keep the economic conditions favourable and to lower cultural barriers”, Andresen says.

A stop-sign policy could slow down those efforts.

CHAPTER III – Wild boars and the German-Danish friendship

Only 100 years ago, Southern Jutland and the northern tip of Germany shared a common identity being part of the Duchy of Sleswick. For centuries, Denmark and Germany were fighting wars over the reign of the region. It was the German defeat of World War I that ultimately sealed the end of Sleswick and divided the land into two halves: North Sleswick became a part of Denmark, the south remained German.

“We have worked a long time on making the borders invisible”
– Hinrich Jürgensen, representative of the German minority in Denmark

Today, the two countries are closer than ever. Thanks to the European Union, Hinrich Jürgensen says. He is chairman of the “Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger” (BDN). The BDN based in Aabenraa represents 15.000 who belong to the German minority in Denmark. The association advocates an even closer friendship with Germany. It has a political party, an own newspaper and 19 local clubs that organise concerts, trips and sporting events. “We have worked a long time on making the borders invisible”, Jürgensen says.

The bright signal lights and the reflecting safety vests of the border patrol are a thorn in his flesh.

On the way from Flensburg to Padborg cars have to pass this checkpoint.

“The European idea is at risk”, Hinrich Jürgensen says regarding the rise of nationalist parties in the EU. “The new border controls fit perfectly into their ideology.” A taste of what might come, is a 70-kilometre-long fence along the Danish border to Germany. The construction starts next year. Its official function is to stop wild boars from bringing the African Swine Fever to Denmark. Critics like Hinrich Jürgensen or Aabenraa’s mayor Andresen consider the fence as a symbol of nationalism.

CHAPTER IV – Referee without a whistle

What role does the EU play in this drama? According to the Schengen Borders Code, member states can re-introduce temporary border controls only for a maximum period of two years. Denmark and five other states have already exceeded the limit. Jorrit Rijpma, Professor of European Law at the Leiden Law School, says the measures were “in any case in contravention with that legislation.” The states would, however, justify their measures by other legal foundations.

“If we lose Schengen, we will lose the European project.”
– Tanja Fajon, EU-Parliamentarian

In November, the European Parliament agreed on a proposal to reform Schengen. Temporary border controls should be authorised by the EU and limited to one year. Though the decision is not binding, Tanja Fajon, the Slovenian EU-Parliamentarian (Socialists & Democrats) who was responsible for the proposal, warned in an interview: “If we lose Schengen, we will lose the European project.”

Six states contravene the Schengen rules (Click on the map to learn more about the prolongation of the border controls)

As the so-called “Guardian of the Treaties”, it is the EU Commission’s job to react to unlawful acts within the Union. Asked, what the Commission could do to end the controls, the Department of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship replies: “We do not green light the controls.” Furthermore, the Commission seems not willing to set the member states under heavy pressure: “The Commission would welcome any indication that Schengen States concerned intend to lift the internal border controls.”

The EU acts like a referee without whistle: After a rude foul, he expects the footballer to leave the field voluntarily.

CHAPTER V – The end of Schengen?

In October, the Danish government prolonged the controls. Indications that they will be lifted soon are missing. The Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration declares to be “fundamentally in favour of the free movement within Schengen” but was incapable to announce, “whether or not the internal border control will be prolonged after May 2019”. With its measures, the Ministry wants to “restore confidence in the Schengen system.”

As a result, it seems as if people are getting used to the controls again. “For me, they are totally fine”, Jana Petersen says. She is employed by H. P. Therkelsen and passes the border on her daily commute between Flensburg and Padborg. Petersen considers the controls as necessary to fight illegal immigration. Unlike her boss, Petersen doesn’t mind the checks. “I have never been stopped”, she says.

“The border controls have come to stay.”
– Kristian Thulesen Dahl, Dansk Folkeparti

Governments in Europe have incidentally returned to border controls. By labelling them “temporary” and “necessary”, they gained the approval of many. But when does the “temporary” begin to become permanent?

Political observers agree that the national election in 2019 will be crucial. “If the right-wing parties succeed, the checks will be tightened”, mayor Thomas Andresen predicts.

Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the leader of the Dansk Folkeparti, has already announced: “The border controls have come to stay.”

It would be the end of Schengen in Denmark.