Germany to put temporary controls on all land borders, says source
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A police officer stopping a vehicle along the German-Polish border to prevent illegal migration near Forst, Germany.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
BERLIN – German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will announce temporary border controls at all of Germany’s land borders in order to tackle irregular migration and protect the public from Islamist extremism, a government source has told Reuters.
Ms Faeser, who is scheduled to hold a press conference on a package of security measures, will notify the European Commission of the plans, the source said.
The controls would start on Sept 16 and initially last six months, the DPA news agency reported, citing government sources.
The German government has been consulting with the main opposition Christian Democrats party on ways to curb migration in the face of public concern and following a deadly knife attack by a Syrian asylum seeker
Last week, the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party won the state election in Thuringia and came second in Saxony.
Ms Faeser’s Social Democrats face an upcoming state election in Brandenburg in two weeks, where the party governs in coalition with the Greens and Christian Democrats.
Germany shares its more than 3,700km land border with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland.
Austria’s Foreign Minister Gerhard Karner told Bild newspaper on Sept 9 that his country would not take in any migrants turned away by Germany at the border.
“There’s no room for manoeuvre there,” he said. “It’s the law. I have directed the head of the federal police to not allow any returns.”
Germany in 2023 announced stricter controls on its land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in response to a sharp increase in first-time asylum requests. REUTERS
