An emergency session of the Danish parliament is being held today regarding migrants from Ceuta, and a memorandum warns that Denmark's exit from Schengen could increase the number of asylum seekers and weaken security cooperation.
The Danish parliament will hold an urgent debate on Schengen cooperation on Wednesday, at the request of Morten Messerschmidt, leader of the Danish People's Party (a right-wing populist party).
The call came after the party announced its desire for Denmark to leave Schengen, following tens of thousands of migrants illegally crossing the border into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta at the end of July.
While the Danish People's Party believes that leaving Schengen and returning to permanent border controls will give Denmark greater control over its borders, the government and European policy experts warn that the move could backfire and affect immigration, security, the economy, and the freedom of movement of citizens.
Government warning of adverse consequences
A memo prepared by the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration and the Ministry of Justice warned that Denmark's exit from Schengen cooperation, a proposal pushed by the Danish People's Party, could lead to more asylum seekers and migrants arriving in the country, rather than reducing their numbers.
Loss of the possibility of returning some asylum seekers
The memo explains that Denmark's withdrawal from Schengen could mean losing the possibility of returning asylum seekers to the first EU country they reached, which is often Greece, Italy or Spain.
Denmark could also lose access to European databases that help authorities determine whether a foreign national is undesirable or has been ordered to be deported, which could affect border control, according to TV2 and Politiken.
Concerns about combating crime
The memo also warns that leaving Schengen could disrupt the work of the Danish police, as cooperation agreements with Europol and Eurojust could be affected.
Eurojust, which was founded in 2002 and is based in The Hague, works to coordinate cooperation between European authorities to combat serious transnational crime.
The memo also indicates that the Danish economy may be harmed, because Danes will not be able to cross European borders as easily as they currently are.
The government warns, and the Danish People's Party rejects.
Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bødskov of the Social Democratic Party said leaving Schengen could make Denmark more attractive to human traffickers.
But Malte Larsen of the Danish People's Party rejected this interpretation, saying that his party wants to impose a permanent and consistent border control, and that this, in his opinion, will prevent a problem with asylum seekers from arising.
Larsen based his argument on figures from the Danish Immigration Service (Udlændingestyrelsen), which show that between 2015 and 2022, more decisions were made to accept foreigners from Schengen countries than to return them. However, the trend reversed between 2023 and 2025, according to the same figures cited by Politiken.
