Border controls started in the west
Published: Monday, Sep 16th 2024, 02:10
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As announced, Germany has extended its existing border controls in the east and south of the country to the land border in the west. Temporary border controls with Belgium and the Netherlands have been in place in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia since midnight, as confirmed by the Federal Police and observed by reporters from the German Press Agency. Checks are also to be set up at the borders with Luxembourg and Denmark on Monday.
The additional checks will initially last for six months in order to reduce the number of unauthorized entries. Commuter and travel traffic should be affected as little as possible.
Border controls are not actually planned in the Schengen area. Until now, the federal police have only carried out checks at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland and, since the Olympic Games in Paris, France. Further controls have been legally possible since midnight.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said on Sunday evening: "In my view, this measure is urgently needed to further reduce irregular migration." Last week, she had ordered that there should be stationary controls at all land borders from Monday.
A spokesperson for the Federal Police said that additional officers were being deployed in Lower Saxony as planned. They are to check people entering the country from the Netherlands on the Lower Saxony side. Fixed checkpoints were set up on the Autobahn 30 near Bad Bentheim, the A280 near Bunde and the Bundesstrasse 402 near Schöninghsdorf (near Meppen). In addition, search measures were also announced on secondary roads near the border with the Netherlands. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, federal police officers checked people entering the country from Belgium on the Autobahn 44 near Aachen.
©Keystone/SDA
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