Denmark says Sweden’s failed migration policy is the root cause of exported crime ━ The European Conservative

Danish politicians are fed up with violent gangs emerging from Sweden, and they know very well what the cause is.

Ten years after then-Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfelt (Moderate) called on Swedes in a speech to “open their hearts” to migrants, Denmark is suffering from the consequences of its neighbor’s liberal migration policy. A week ago, Denmark introduced border controls on trains crossing the Øresund Bridge after two shootings and a bomb attack involving perpetrators from Sweden. On Wednesday, a Swedish citizen was arrested in the Danish capital, who was carrying two hand grenades.

“Sweden is a frightening example of what happens when too little attention is paid to immigration and law enforcement policies,” said Danish MP Preben Bang Henriksen Aftonbladet“Neither the conservative nor the social democratic governments have addressed the problem,”

“The reality now is that not only Denmark, but also large parts of the Scandinavian countries are feeling the consequences of Sweden’s long-standing failed immigration and justice policies, and we take that extremely seriously,” Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told media this week.

For decades, Sweden had the most generous migration policy in Western Europe, a change that only began after the center-right government backed by the Sweden Democrats came to power in 2022. The country has taken in more than 2 million migrants since the turn of the century. Of Sweden’s 10 million people, 20% are foreign-born. While the tide appears to have turned, with net emigration in the country, imported organized crime remains.

The failure to control migration has led to a shocking increase in violent crime in the previously homogeneous and peaceful Scandinavian country. As we previously reported, Sweden has the highest rate of gun violence per capita in the European Union, with 363 fatal shootings last year, compared to six in the three other Scandinavian countries combined.

Criminal conflicts spilling over into Denmark are not new. In the 1990s, criminal motorcycle gangs crossed the strait in violent turf wars. But today’s situation is different, Danish politicians emphasize: “The fact that Swedish child soldiers are now coming to Denmark and shooting on our streets is a completely new problem that we take very seriously,” says Danish MP Bjørn Brandenborg.

“Criminal groups in Denmark have hired Swedish child soldiers – that’s what I call them – to carry out criminal activities,” Hummelgaard said at a news conference Monday. Denmark has handled 25 such cases since April, he said.

Hummelgaard has reached out to Swedish media to convey a different message, not to politicians but to potential criminals in the region: the Danish legal system has harsher sentences and a higher conviction rate than the Swedish one.

“And you don’t get away with it just because you’re underage,” he said.

Last year, Sweden made it a criminal offence to involve anyone under the age of 18 in criminal activities. But more needs to be done on the legal side, says Hummelgaard. Sweden, for example, has no equivalent to Denmark. banderole (gang package) – an automatic doubling of sentences for crimes committed in connection with a gang.

“I am fully convinced that severe punishment is necessary when someone commits serious crimes, even at a young age,” Hummelgard said.

Denmark has also successfully used other means to deal with juvenile delinquency. Conviction for a crime can lead to the deportation of an immigrant’s entire family. “It’s about making life as difficult as possible for criminals,” he said.

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer places some of the blame on Danish gangs that hire young hitmen, but admits his country must also bear some of the burden.

“That is why we are now also changing our policy more broadly, and we are doing that largely with Denmark as a model,” he said. “In practice, we are now implementing the Danish gang packages.”

Strömmer will meet his Danish counterpart in Copenhagen next week to discuss cooperation between the two countries’ law enforcement agencies. A joint cooperation force in Stockholm, with Finnish and Norwegian law enforcement, is already in the works.

“I know that things have started to happen in Sweden, and I respect that they have a longer democratic process,” Hummelgaard said. “But I don’t want to hide that Sweden has been warned about this for years.”