Newly released documents claim that the Danish government was prepared to build a wall on its southern border with Germany during the height of the 2015 migrant crisis.
The documents claim that the government was fully prepared to build a 33-kilometre long wall across the border and had already spent nearly 22 million Danish Krone (£2.5m/$3.2m) on materials to build the structure, Danish newspaper Berlingske reports.
Minister of Justice Nick Hekkerup revealed the plan to the Danish parliament showing that the Ministry of Defense’s Material and Purchasing Board had purchased 37,500 barbed spirals, 37,000 barbed wire posts, 35,000 barbed wire pick along with equipment such as gloves and scissors to build the barbed wire fences.
According to Hekkerup, 90 percent of the materials purchased by the Ministry of Defence were not used and remain in storage after the ministry determined in June of 2017 that it would not require it.
Søren Pind, who served as Danish Justice Minister during the migrant crisis, originally talked about the proposed border fence in his book “Free Words” released last month.
Denmark Introduces Permanent Border Controls with Sweden Due to Gang Violence https://t.co/JNjQkevg1o
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 13, 2019
“In the government, there were discussions about building a barbed wire and concrete wall at the border with Germany. Very precise plans were drawn up,” he wrote in the book and added, “It turned out that we did not have enough resources and that materials and items to make such a violent decision were not part of our emergency stocks at all.”
He later told Danish media that the government created the plans because they were afraid that Europe could “collapse” under the weight of the migrant crisis.
While no wall was built on the German border, controls were introduced in January of 2016 by then-Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
Denmark has also strengthened its northern border with Sweden this month due to a surge in gang violence in Sweden that has spilt over into Denmark with the bombing of a tax office in Copenhagen earlier this year.
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