There will be expanded border controls for at least six months. Travelers and commuters have to take a number of things into account. Meanwhile, concerns are growing in border regions.
Berlin – Suddenly the borders are clearly visible again: Federal police officers are stationed on the motorways on Monday morning, waving travelers out of traffic. After decades, there are controls again at the borders with France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Free travel between the countries has actually been in place since 1995, and there have been no regular border controls. However, in the wake of the migration debate and due to a tense security situation since the Solingen attack, new rules have been introduced. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) has ordered controls at all German external borders for six months. “We will turn people away at the German borders and the number of rejections will increase,” said Faeser.
This will also include counter-terrorism measures and preventing potential threats from entering the country. Commuters and travellers now have to take a number of things into consideration.
Border controls France, Netherlands, Belgium: Is everyone checked?
According to the Federal Police, the checks will be carried out randomly. There are no details about the criteria the police will use to check people entering the country. All they can say is: “Relevant vehicles and people will generally be pulled out of traffic based on situational awareness and search grids,” the Federal Police said. In concrete terms, this means that anyone who crosses one of the borders may be checked under certain circumstances.
There will be no permanent controls at fixed locations, and in addition to uniformed officers, there will also be plainclothes police officers on duty. This is intended to make the controls as unpredictable as possible, it is said. “This is to prevent smugglers from making evasive movements,” says the Interior Ministry. In addition, there may simply not be enough staff for permanent stationary controls.
Are there also border controls on trains?
Yes, trains crossing borders will also be subject to increased police checks. However, the Federal Police want to keep disruption to commuters and the movement of goods “as minimal as possible”.
What do travellers need to take into account when crossing the border into France, Denmark or the Netherlands?
Anyone who wants to travel to the Netherlands, Belgium, France or Denmark by car, for example, should definitely have valid travel documents such as an identity card, passport and child’s passport with them. The Federal Police asks that you keep the documents to hand – also to save time during any checks and to avoid traffic jams.
Before entering the country, travelers should ensure that their identification documents are valid on the day of border crossing.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) meanwhile urged caution with border controls. Controls should not be carried out across the board, but only where they are particularly likely to be successful, Reul told the Daily Mirror.
Criticism of Faeser’s measures and border controls: “Puts an axe on European cohesion”
There is criticism from the German-Dutch association Euregio Rhein-Maas-Nord, which fears problems for cross-border commuters who travel daily between the Netherlands and Germany. The association is committed to introducing a commuter card that would allow those affected to cross the border without controls.
The Expert Council on Migration and Integration (SVR) is critical of the stricter measures that the Interior Ministry is planning and implementing with the border controls. At least long-term stationary controls within the Schengen area should be avoided, they say. “The planned measures will ultimately lead to chaos in Europe and to the destabilization of the European Union,” said SVR Chairman Hans Vorländer a few days ago in an interview with IPPEN.MEDIAMigration cannot simply be avoided, we must talk about common European solutions. “This is how we put the axe to European cohesion,” said Vorländer.
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