"on Wednesday Denmark took the bold, unilateral step of reintroducing permanent border controls,

[pampango]

claiming it was concerned about organized crime and illegal immigration. Behind the decision was the country's right-wing populist Danish People's Party (DPP), which leveraged a favorable vote on the center-right minority government's economic legislation to force the measure through.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,762416,00.html

European Union officials are outraged about Denmark's decision to restore border controls in violation of EU treaties. But a trend is emerging. German commentators worry that right-wing populism threatens to tear the EU apart.

Denmark isn't the only European country with powerful populist forces, though. Last month the right-wing populist True Finns party garnered one in five votes in Finland's national election. Since then the party has been working to block EU-friendly policies such as aid to Greece and Portugal. Meanwhile parties touting anti-immigrant, anti-Europe aims are gaining ground across the EU.

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

"Right-wing populists are increasingly determining EU policy. While in Finland, the threat of a blockade on important EU questions by the True Finns seems to have passed, in Demark the right-wing Danish People's Party is celebrating a victory with the return to border controls. EU critics hope that this step will be the beginning of the end for borderless freedom of movement in the union. "

"But in reality, calculated domestic policy is carrying elementary European ideals to the grave. This is because there can be no compromise between a liberal political understanding that insists on the free movement of people, goods and services, and another grounded in sealing itself off."'