Sweden frozen out of Danish-Norwegian border thaw

Denmark and Norway will be removing border restrictions on their respective borders, but the same treatment will not be applied to their neighbour Sweden

The threat of the coronavirus pandemic appears to be subsiding with each passing day pretty much all across the continent. Countries are already reopening not only their economies but also their borders, they are reallowing air travel and are gearing up for the summer season. Yet the picture differs if you look at different parts of Europe – namely towards its two great exceptions, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

A differing approach leads to different results

During the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, both the UK and Sweden chose to follow a different path in dealing with the virus compared to the rest of Europe. And while the UK was quickly faced with the disastrous results of their choice and was forced to adopt more traditional measures for containment, Sweden has kept its resolve, defying the common approach.

The results of this decision are now tangible. Putting aside mortality and infection data, Sweden has just now been excluded from a broader Nordic reopening that has seen Denmark, one of the countries that went on lockdown the earliest in all of Europe, and Norway reallow travel through their mutual borders.

According to Danish officials, the desire to find a workable solution for Sweden was strong, but ultimately pointless, as the countries differ far too much in their epidemiological situations. Where Denmark and Norway have successfully managed to put an effective stop to the spread of COVID-19, Sweden’s efforts have been aimed in a different direction, putting it at odds with its neighbours.

Meanwhile, Denmark has also decided to allow visitors from two other countries to enter its territory starting 15 June – namely Iceland and Germany who have also managed to handle the virus exceptionally well and pose no threat to the careful balance achieved by Danish authorities.