Germany on Monday began random checks at its borders with five Western European countries as it seeks to crack down on illegal immigration and expand a mobile border control system already in place at four other borders.
Border controls with France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark began before dawn on Monday and were initially planned to last six months. Germany has already been carrying out border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland since last year.
Germany, a member of the 27-member European Union, announced last week that it would expand border controls at its nine land borders this week as part of efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and crime following recent extremist attacks. Including the knife attack on a Syrian asylum seeker in Solingen last month that killed three people. The suspect claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State group. In June this year, a policeman was killed and four others wounded in a knife attack on an Afghan migrant.
Border controls will test European unity, with some seeing border checks as a step beyond the EU’s ethos of free movement and trade, known as Schengen. The freedom for Europeans to travel freely across borders for work or pleasure is one of the EU’s favourite benefits.
Germany, the EU’s largest country, is located in central Europe and has more border countries than any other EU member. Some unions have expressed concern that the controls could hurt businesses.
But there are no plans to return to the previous system with closed borders and mandatory border controls for every person crossing the border.
But German police say widespread controls are already creating a serious problem for them.
Andreas Rosskopf, head of the German Federal Police Union, said anyone crossing the German border should expect to be checked. But he also admitted that, given the length of the country’s borders, police cannot really stop and check every vehicle.
He noted that Germany has 870 miles along its western border, plus 1,490 miles along its eastern and southern borders, where checks were already in place.
In an interview with RBB24 Inforadio, he said that “given the length of the border, continuous and intensive controls are not possible.” He added that “it remains to be seen to what extent this will be successful in curbing migration and human trafficking.”
According to the European Union, member states can temporarily reintroduce controls at so-called internal EU borders in the event of a serious threat, such as a threat to internal security. But it also says border controls should be used as a last resort in exceptional circumstances and should be of limited duration.
Such restrictions are often imposed during major sporting events, including the recent Paris Olympics and the European Football Championship.
The unpopular coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has introduced border controls in its bid to crack down on illegal immigration after the far-right won the last two state elections in eastern Germany. Next up on Sunday is Brandenburg, a state near Berlin.
Probst and Gera write for The Associated Press. Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland.
