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Danish Home Guard to relieve overworked police at border with Germany

Xinhua, April 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Danish government on Tuesday presented a proposal to deploy the Danish Home Guard at its border with Germany to help the overworked police force with temporary border controls.

"It is a special situation we are facing, and therefore it is also an important task that we are asking our Home Guard to carry out," said Danish Defense Minister Peter Christensen.

The Home Guard will contribute with 125 full-time equivalents at the border, while a further 40 police officers can be pulled off duty, according to the government's proposal.

As such, a total of 165 police officers can return to the police district from the border.

Parties like the Danish People's Party and the Social Democratic Party welcomed the government's plan to send the volunteer military forces to the Danish-German border.

"It makes perfect sense...We have reached a step towards relieving the very pressed police," said the Social Democrats' spokeswoman Trine Bramsen.

Peter Skaarup, chairman of the Parliamentary Group at Danish People's Party, said "we would also like to see that the soldiers can assist in guarding Copenhagen."

Earlier this month, the Danish People's Party suggested that trained soldiers from the Danish Armed Forces should replace police officers at both border checks and potential terrorist targets.

Established after World War II, the Danish Home Guard consists of some 15,000 active volunteers and 30,000 reserve troops. Endit