Before the start of the expanded border controls on Monday, the federal government defended the measure and promised drivers that there would be no major traffic jams. The aim of the controls is to “further reduce irregular migration, stop people smugglers, put a stop to criminals, identify and stop Islamists,” Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) told “Bild am Sonntag”.
Former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was critical of the German plans. CDU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz called for an assessment at the end of the year to determine whether the controls have significantly reduced the number of illegal entries.
After Poland, for example, had expressed its criticism of the German approach, Faeser now assured: “We are not going it alone on a national level that would destroy Europe, but are working closely with our neighbours.” Random checks will prevent long queues at the borders. “No long traffic jams, but smart checks, as the current situation requires.”
Controls at all land borders
The minister has ordered that there will be border 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 France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Such controls already exist at the borders with Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. And controls have also recently been introduced at the border with France, which the federal government justified with the Olympic Games, among other reasons.
Such border controls are not normally planned within the Schengen area; they must be notified to the EU Commission. The German plans were strongly criticized by Poland and Greece.
Scholz: We cannot fully rely on all our neighbours
Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended the approach. “Irregular migration is not what we want,” said the SPD politician on Saturday during a question and answer session with citizens in Prenzlau, Brandenburg. If, as happened last year, 300,000 people come to Germany, only some of whom are entitled to protection, “then that is not good.”
That is why we need to take a closer look at who has the right to enter the country. “Unfortunately, we cannot completely rely on all of our neighbours doing what they should.” He stressed that border controls would be carried out in accordance with European law.
Merz demands “honest assessment” of border controls
Union parliamentary group leader Merz called 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 rejections at our borders would have an immediate effect.”
A joint meeting between the government, the Union as the largest opposition force 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.
Instead, the traffic light coalition wants to speed up the process for so-called Dublin transfers. This involves the return of asylum seekers by those EU countries that are responsible for processing their asylum applications – usually this is the state where someone first set foot on European soil.
Juncker worries about “achievements of European integration”
Former EU Commission President Juncker told the German Press Agency in Luxembourg: “I am not a fan of border controls because they cause massive inconvenience for commuters.” He considers stationary border controls to be particularly problematic. “If controls have to be carried out, then mobile rather than stationary controls not at the border but in the hinterland would be less difficult for those affected,” he said, referring to the border with Luxembourg.
Juncker said he understood that stationary border controls had been carried out at times during the European Football Championship. “To now carry out stationary border controls for a long period of time around the issue of refugees, immigrants and illegal immigrants does not seem appropriate to me.” Juncker was President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019.
In the Schengen area, other countries have also reintroduced temporary border controls. “I view this with concern,” said Juncker. “The fact that the achievement of European integration is now being called into question without much ado is something that worries me.” It should not be the case, he said, “that borders are again being allowed to emerge in people’s minds and hearts.”
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