Sweden’s admission that it is buckling under the pressure of the migrant crisis as it struggles to provide accommodation for those arriving from Denmark and Germany is exposing European Union discord on the issue.
Earlier this week the Swedish government admitted it cannot guarantee emergency shelter for the record number of migrants entering the country. The Swedish Minister for Justice and Migration’s suggestion that migrants consider “go[ing] back to Germany or Denmark” has angered the Danes.
Drawing attention to the marked contrast in approach to the migrant crisis taken by their respective countries, Danish Minister for Integration Inger Støjberg labelled the comment “neither good nor appropriate”. She told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten:
“Sweden put itself in the situation it is in by adopting immigration policies that are extremely lenient in every way. It’s not a solution to start guiding refugees to other countries. One can hope that the Swedes are beginning to take a little more realistic approach to the situation.”
Ms Støjberg said that limiting the flow of migrants to Europe should be a joint effort, but does not see Denmark volunteering to take any from its neighbour, saying: “I don’t see us taking any of the Swedish asylum seekers.”
In saying that she echoed the comments of her colleague, Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen. In response to Sweden’s plea for help he said the only assistance Denmark will offer is the inspiration of his country’s more hard-line approach, as reported by The Local.
As Breitbart London previously reported, the Danish approach has included publishing advertisements in Lebanese newspapers telling migrants to stay away with the warning that the country has recently halved the level of benefits received by asylum seekers.
The benefits policy looks to have had some effect, as Middle Eastern migrants are reportedly rejecting Denmark as a country in which to seek asylum, claiming that “salaries” offered to “refugees” are not as high as in other countries such as Sweden and Finland.
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