In anticipation of rising numbers of refugees arriving from Ukraine, the Swedish government is planning to reintroduce ID checks for people entering the country.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to Europe experiencing the biggest and fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, the government in Stockholm said on Tuesday.
The government therefore intends to resume the practice followed during the 2015 refugee crisis of checking IDs for travellers arriving in Sweden by bus, train or boat.
Parliament still has to approve the proposal.
During the refugee crisis in 2015, Sweden enacted a temporary law, which has since expired, allowing transport companies to carry out ID checks.
According to the government's proposal, the new law will come into force on April 8 and will also be temporary. Journeys from or via Norway are to be exempted from the regulation.
Further south in Denmark, according to radio station DR, there are daily cases of Ukrainian refugees being turned back at the border with Germany for not having biometric passports or for wanting to transit Denmark en route elsewhere.
The Danish border police are currently stopping 10 to 20 refugees every day, DR reported on Tuesday, citing police sources.
Temporary residence permits
On Monday evening, the Danish police clarified the country's regulations on Twitter, stressing: "All Ukrainian citizens with a biometric passport can enter Denmark freely."
The vast majority of the Ukrainian refugees at the German-Danish border have biometric passports, allowing them to stay in Denmark for 90 days under the current rules.
Ukrainians using Denmark as a transit country are also required to have a biometric passport.
On Wednesday, the Danish parliament is expected to approve a special law that would give refugees from Ukraine temporary residence permits in Denmark.
According to the newspaper Jyllands Posten, Ukrainians will then be eligible for a residence permit even with non-biometric passports, as well as being free to transit Denmark on their way somewhere else.
