STOCKHOLM (Sputnik) — The Swedish government extended the temporary border controls it introduced on its borders with neighboring Schengen states until March 9, a spokesman for the Swedish interior minister said Tuesday.
"The government has decided to extend [the border control measure] until March 9 at the last meeting, which took place at the end of last week," Victor Harju told RIA Novosti.
In November 12, Stockholm introduced temporary border controls within the Schengen free-travel zone to curb migration in an attempt to manage the greatest refugee crisis Europe has seen in decades.
Similar restrictive measures were also introduced in several other European countries, including Austria, Norway, Denmark, Germany and France.
The EU border agency Frontex detected over 1.8 million illegal border crossings in 2015, in contrast to some 283,000 in 2014.
