Germany extends temporary border controls
Published: Wednesday, May 29th 2024, 17:00
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The stationary controls at Germany's borders with Switzerland, Poland and the Czech Republic will be extended by six months.
The German Ministry of the Interior announced on Wednesday that it had notified the European Commission of the extension of the internal border controls currently in place until June 15 until December 15. This was justified with the aim of combating smuggling crime and limiting irregular migration.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was initially sceptical about the call from some state ministers for permanent controls at these border sections. She then ordered checks directly at the border for the first time in mid-October 2023 and has extended them several times since then.
Faeser said on Wednesday: "The federal police have arrested around 920 people smugglers since mid-October 2023 as part of the current internal border controls, including the border with Austria." This shows that the controls are having an effect.
According to her ministry, the police have detected around 37,600 unauthorized entries at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria since 16 October and "carried out entry-preventing or residence-terminating measures" in around 23,000 cases. The number of unauthorized entries detected across Germany fell from around 21,000 last September to around 7,500 unauthorized entries in April of this year.
Internal border controls at the German-Austrian land border have been in place since the fall of 2015 and will continue until November 11. Random checks will be carried out at all border sections during the European Football Championship in Germany. The aim is to prevent violent criminals from entering the country.
©Keystone/SDA
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