Border control | Germany’s tightened border controls will come into force on Monday

Germany announced last week that it would expand border checks to all its land borders, Reuters reports, among other things.

The purpose is to curb illegal immigration and to convert even more asylum seekers. The decision, which comes into effect on Monday, will initially be valid for six months and it applies to the land borders against Belgium, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Passengers should be prepared for more and more inspections, which are carried out on those traveling by car, train and bus. Those seeking to enter the country illegally can be denied entry or arrested if they seek asylum in the country.

Poland and Greece have criticized Germany’s decision. Prime minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday called for consultations with Germany’s other land border neighbors. According to him, Poland does not need stricter border control, but more support from EU countries to secure the bloc’s external borders.

Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis in turn called Germany’s decision damaging one of the EU’s fundamental achievements, namely the Schengen Agreement.

Where the people turned away from the borders are directed can also become a problem. For example, the Austrian Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner swore Bild magazine including that his country will not accept a single asylum seeker or immigrant.

The situation can For Deutsche Welle representative of the European Policy Center think tank who spoke by Alberto-Horst Neidhard including leads to camps being created near the borders at worst.

“I doubt that Germany has enough capabilities and well-trained border officials to guard all land borders effectively enough.”

The Prime Minister of Hungary, the problem child of the EU Viktor Orbán in turn thanked the German Chancellor By Olaf Scholz decision.

Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic Vít Rakušan again, it was not considered likely that the new border checks would differ more from the current situation.

Germany’s president of the federal police union Andreas Rosskopf on the other hand, doubted the feasibility of the government’s decision. According to him, the problem is above all the lack of necessary personnel and preparation.

“This has not been fully thought through yet and it is partly due to the fact that the minister’s announcement came as a surprise,” Rosskopf said on Saturday, according to the RND media company.

According to Rosskopf, the decision could have long-term effects on the federal police.

“There is a risk that more and more police officers will no longer perceive their work as positive.”

With its decision, the German federal government is also playing an internal political game. According to opinion polls cited by Reuters, in the state of Brandenburg, for example, the biggest concern of voters is immigration. Elections will be held in the state on Sunday next week.

The partly far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) party is at the top of the state polls. The party became the first far-right party to win an election since World War II. At the beginning of September, the AFD won 30.7 percent in the state elections in Saxony and 32.8 percent in Thuringia.

Germany’s Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser justified the decision to the Bild magazine by, among other things, curbing human smuggling. According to the minister, Germany also does not go solo with its decision, but cooperates closely with its neighbors.

According to figures from the German federal employment authority quoted by Deutsche Welle, around 240,000 people travel from neighboring countries to work in Germany.

Faeser also promised that there will be no long lines at the borders with the new border checks. According to him, the checks that have been in effect for almost a year at the borders with the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland have shown that these queues do not arise.