Many Danes are concerned that new legislation will be ineffective at fighting crime and will damage national reputation
The rightwing Danish People's Party (DPP) laid on a spread of bacon crisps and pink champagne to celebrate the agreement on tighter border controls. But many Danes refuse to toast legislation they see as damaging to the country's reputation around Europe.
"It is an expression of xenophobia," said Carl Carstensen, a history teacher from Vejle, an hour's drive just north of the German border. "I guess Pia Kjaersgaard [the DPP leader] is scared of all the people who will come flooding up from the Arab countries. Presumably, the idea behind this is to catch criminals but it is border control officers who are at the borders, not police. Unless the officers have police privileges it doesn't make any sense."
The DPP is a key supporter of Denmark's Liberal-led coalition, and has been criticised for making concessions on the government's new financial plan in order to secure a populist deal on border control.
"Kjaersgaard has a phobia about foreign people and she knows she can win lots of votes this way, especially among the older population," said Carstensen. "The idea behind the EU was European integration. This is the complete opposite and I think that we have been noticed. But not for anything good."
Immigrants and their descendants make up about 10% of Denmark's 5.5m population, and the number of residence permits granted rose by more than 50% between 2004 and 2009. Many believe the Danes have become steadily more opposed to immigration in recent years, reflected in the rise in DPP support.
The latest agreement on border controls has split opinion on the nation's message boards. Writing in the comment section of the Berlingske newspaper, Kasper Tvede said: "This is long overdue. The borders are practically open - way too open. You would be hard pressed to find a toll officer at the Danish-German border." Kim Dambæk, a theatre
director from Copenhagen, is against the agreement but believes it is a shrewd political move to push it through at a time when newspapers carry headlines about Roma people committing crime. "It is probably good political timing. Personally I think it's very bad. In terms of border control it seems sensible what they are doing in Sweden, where they respect the Schengen treaty but have the necessary personnel to contain the drugs trade and human
trafficking," he said.
Dambæk doesn't believe the agreement will make him feel more safe. "It is striking that there are people who still want to rein in Denmark's borders. Essentially that's the attitude we are up against instead of considering how the world is evolving. Nothing will be like it was before. And it is that attitude that we have to get used to, and I don't know why it is so difficult but we often feel that in Denmark because we are such a small nation and everything seems to be tightening up."
An online poll conducted by the newspaper Jyllands-Posten showed 75% of readers backed the government's agreement on
border controls. One commenter wrote: "We can't just let crime spread over borders as it does now where the criminals have free rein. It is not freedom for criminals we want, but to secure the public against increasing organised crime."