Dansk Folkeparti has proposed creating a separate Danish border police unit based in Sønderjylland. The police union Politiforbundet has rejected the idea as professionally unsound.
DR reported on August 10, 2026 that Dansk Folkeparti wants Denmark to establish its own independent border police. The party wants the unit based in Sønderjylland, near the German border.
According to DR, the proposed unit would be staffed by employees from the police, the Danish Customs Agency and the Danish Prison and Probation Service. The party’s political spokesman, Peter Kofod, argues that today’s border control is temporary in name only and should be made permanent.
The chairman of Politiforbundet, Heino Kegel, told DR’s P1 Orientering that the union would rather see investment in the police as a whole. He said taking officers out of the general force would reduce flexibility in police work.
Kegel added that the border districts already face significant problems with both recruitment and retention. He said Denmark has the second fewest police officers per 100,000 inhabitants in Europe, and that a separate unit does not fit that staffing level.
Kofod told DR that he always listens to Politiforbundet, but simply disagrees on this point. He said the aim is to secure the resources for high quality work, and that he expects more police officers rather than fewer.
How border control works today
DR reports that Denmark has carried out temporary border control at the land and sea border with Germany since January 4, 2016. The checks are performed by police as spot checks at crossings, and the arrangement is routinely extended by two to six months.
The Danish Police state on their website that border control in Denmark is carried out under the Schengen rules, which set the framework for these duties. The police website does not address Dansk Folkeparti’s proposal.
Press material from Toldstyrelsen, the Danish Customs Agency, shows that customs officers and police already carry out joint controls at the Danish German border. In those planned actions, vehicles and travelers are stopped and checked.
Kegel made a similar point to DR. He said the police already cooperate well with Toldstyrelsen on border work, so a new unit would add nothing new on that front. In his view, strengthening crime prevention or border control is better achieved by investing in the police generally.
Kofod pointed to the migrant situation in Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa, as an argument for strengthening Denmark’s own border control. He told DR that the country should be willing to plan further into the future, and that the proposal is about finding a solution police officers and other staff groups can live with.
