Danish Prime Minister Says Europe Needs to Be Tough on Migrants

(Bloomberg) - Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose country is known for some of Europe's strictest immigration rules, said it's right that other governments are shifting their tone on the need for more stringent controls.

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"We have to be, unfortunately, quite tough on migration," Frederiksen said in a Bloomberg interview at her office in Copenhagen on Friday. "We should have changed the rules and the legislation in Europe a long time ago."

In addition to dealing with the war in Ukraine, immigration should be Europe's top priority, Frederiksen said. Governments across the region have reacted "a bit too late" to rising migrant flows, driving associated problems such as a lack of integration, radicalization and crime.

"We still have time to change this," the 46-year-old prime minister said.

The comments come after neighboring Germany toughened its crackdown on undocumented migrants by widening controls to all of its nine land borders, including Denmark.

The Nordic country already had such checks in place on land and at ports with ferry connections to Germany due to the threat of terrorism from militant Islamic groups and espionage from Russia. Earlier this month it also tightened controls at its borders with Sweden after enduring a rising number of shootings by Swedish perpetrators.

Swelling immigration has become a major issue across Europe, leading to the rise of far-right groups and dominating elections in countries including France and Italy as most established parties skirted the issue for years.

The conversation is "changing a lot," Frederiksen said. "Finally."

The Social Democrat is a rare example of a mainstream politician pushing through harsher immigration policies. Leading Denmark since 2019, she has placed greater focus on returning refugees home and exploring options to transfer asylum seekers to third countries. One of the plans — currently halted — entails setting up asylum centers in Rwanda.

"We can help many more people if we help outside Europe," she said. "If too many people from outside Europe enter Europe, the problems with lack of integration will simply be too big and too massive."

-With assistance from Max Ramsay, Chris Miller and Carla Canivete.

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