Border controls: According to Faeser, “no long traffic jams” to be feared

Before the start of the expanded border controls on Monday, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser defended the measure. The aim was to “further reduce irregular migration, stop people smugglers, put a stop to criminals, identify and stop Islamists,” the SPD politician told “Bild am Sonntag”. After criticism from Poland, for example, she assured: “We are not going it alone at national level that would destroy Europe, but are working closely with our neighbors.”

There will be no long queues at the borders thanks to random checks, Faeser assured. “No long traffic jams, but smart checks, just as the current situation requires.”

Faeser has ordered that there will be controls at all German land borders from Monday in order to further reduce the number of illegal entries. The additional controls will initially last for six months. This applies to the borders with France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. There are already such controls at the borders with Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. And controls have also recently been carried out at the border with France, which the federal government justified with the Olympic Games, among other reasons.

Such border controls are not normally provided for within the Schengen area; they must be reported to the EU Commission. The German approach was strongly criticized by the heads of government of Poland and Greece.

Merz: “Only rejections at our borders would have an immediate effect.”

Trade union faction leader Friedrich Merz is calling for the effectiveness of border controls to be reviewed. “I expect the federal government to provide an honest assessment at the end of the year as to whether the measures it has taken have noticeably reduced the number of migrants entering the country irregularly,” he told Bild am Sonntag. “Only turning people away at our borders would have an immediate effect.”

A joint meeting between the government, the Union as the largest opposition force in the Bundestag and federal states on migration policy failed on Tuesday. The Union is insisting on extensive rejections of asylum seekers at the German borders – according to the federal government, this would not be permissible under European law.