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Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) understands the planned construction of a border barrier on Poland’s border with Belarus. If necessary, he also wants to protect the German one more strongly.
Berlin – The new migration routes via Belarus and Poland are preoccupying German politics. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has now given the prospect of deploying further federal police officers in the border area with Poland “if necessary”. “At the German-Polish border we have already strengthened the border guard with eight hundred federal police,” said the CSU politician Bild am Sonntag (BamS).
“If necessary, I am ready to step up there even further. We will closely monitor the border area and the green border with Poland, ”said Seehofer zur BamS.
Migration via Belarus and Poland: Seehofer is considering more police at borders
Seehofer also made it clear that border controls could be considered there if necessary. “Last week we announced the extension of the controls at the German-Austrian border for a further six months in Brussels. If the situation on the German-Polish border does not relax, it must also be considered whether this step has to be taken in coordination with Poland and the state of Brandenburg. ”This decision will be made by the next government.
There are actually no stationary border controls at the borders between the 26 countries of the Schengen area. However, exceptions are possible in particularly dangerous situations. Seehofer said in the interview that if possible there should be no more border controls within Europe. “But that only works if the external border protection works.”
Greens leader Habeck on refugees: Must support Poles
Meanwhile Robert Habeck is calling for Poland’s support to take in refugees who come to the country via Belarus, across the EU. That said the Greens co-head of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Humanitarian standards would have to be adhered to. The country must be supported, even if it has so far refused to take in refugees.
The European Union has accused the Belarusian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, of bringing refugees from crisis regions to the EU’s external border in an organized manner. Lukashenko announced at the end of May that he no longer wanted to prevent migrants from continuing to travel to the EU – in response to tightened Western sanctions against the former Soviet republic. Since then, reports of attempted illegal border crossings at the EU’s external borders with Belarus and at the German-Polish border have increased.
Migration from Belarus: focus on the German-Polish border
According to their own information, the Federal Police registered 3751 unauthorized entries with a connection to Belarus for the current month by Thursday. In the current year, a total of 6162 unauthorized entries related to Belarus were detected by the federal police. The German-Polish border is the focus. Many of the migrants and refugees arriving there come from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Seehofer had recently proposed joint German-Polish patrols on the border – especially on the Polish side – to his Polish counterpart Mariusz Kaminski. The answer from Warsaw, however, remained vague. (dpa / frs)
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