Nancy Faeser has ordered controls at German borders. In doing so, she is shaking up the legal foundations of the EU.
Berlin/Brussels – Since the Schengen Agreement in 1985, borders have been dismantled in Europe. The Schengen area now comprises 29 countries and guarantees freedom of travel for more than 400 million people. Everyone, regardless of their nationality, can travel between the Schengen countries without border controls.
According to the agreement, border controls may only be carried out in exceptional cases and for a limited period of time. One such exceptional case occurred during the pandemic. The newly introduced controls at all nine German borders are now putting the agreement to the test like never before. Neighbouring countries and EU-Politicians are outraged.
Brussels’ top politicians warn – “Relapse into the heyday of nationalism”
Olaf Scholz stressed that European law would be adhered to when it comes to border controls. But there are considerable doubts about this. “With regard to the current border controls, I have therefore called on the EU Commission to legally examine these measures,” said the conservative Belgian MEP Pascal Arimont to the Daily NewsSpecifically, it concerns Article 25 of the Schengen Code. “I doubt that these controls are in line with this article,” said Arimont.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized the German border controls, saying they were purely symbolic and would endanger the Schengen freedom of movement. Former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned against a relapse into the heyday of nationalism.
Anger also from Austria and Luxembourg – exception must not become rule
Angry voices are also being heard from the neighboring country about Germany’s unilateral action. The Austrian member of the EU Parliament from the conservative ÖVP described Faeser’s border controls as an “astonishing about-face” by the Social Democrats and the Greens. It is a “joke that the German federal government of all people now wants to solve its own domestic image crisis at the expense of the whole of Europe.” Austria will not take back any asylum seekers from Germany.
With regard to the traffic light coalition, Luxembourg’s Interior Minister Léon Gloden warned that the exception laid down in the Schengen Code should not become the rule. Unilateral action would not solve Europe’s migration issue. The majority of EU parliamentarians, on the other hand, are in favor of implementing the asylum and migration pact adopted in the spring before the summer of 2026.
Nancy Faeser justifies border controls with the fight against irregular migration
Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), who ordered stationary controls by the federal police at all land borders, justified her order with the great burden on Germany caused by so-called irregular migration. A complicated term, since many people who have a legal right to asylum have no other option than to enter Germany illegally. Such controls had already been in place at the borders with Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, and now France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have been added. Controls are not actually planned in the Schengen area, which comprises 29 states with around 420 million people.
Illegal entry to Germany: The only option for many refugees
Most people who come from countries where there is war or poverty receive, according to Media Service Integration no visa for regular entry into the European Union. They therefore usually come to the country as so-called irregular immigrants.
Their entry can certainly take place in accordance with the law. According to Article 16a of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, people who are politically persecuted are entitled to asylum. The right to asylum has constitutional status as a fundamental right in Germany.
Article 14 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that refugees have the right to seek and enjoy asylum. Furthermore, protection from deportation to persecution is a human right confirmed, among others, in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl does not see an end to border controls with neighboring countries any time soon. The controls are needed at least until the planned European asylum reform takes effect, said the CDU politician in Stuttgart. “That will not be before 2026. And before then we will not be able to set up effective border protection at the EU’s external borders.” More intensive border controls at the internal borders will therefore have to remain in place for the foreseeable future, said Strobl. (lm/dpa)
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