Germany extends temporary control on all land borders to ‘limit migration’ Premium

Germany introduces temporary land border controls with all nine neighbouring countries till March 2025 due to security concerns.

Germany has introduced temporary land border controls along all nine of its neighbouring countries. Germany already had temporary border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. However, starting on September 16, the border controls extended to France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

The German Interior Federal Ministry called these measures necessary to “limit irregular migration and protect Germany’s internal security”. Speaking to the press, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, “My order is also intended to protect against the acute threat of Islamist extremist terrorism and serious cross-border crime. We are doing everything in our power to protect the people of our country against these threats.”

This is an exceptional situation as Germany, the most populous of the European Union countries, is located at the centre of the Schengen Area, which abolished internal border controls. For EU citizens and tourists visiting the Schengen Area (with a valid visa), crossing land borders between the 29 nations in the Schengen regions does not involve passport checks, except in special situations. That is set to change in Germany for at least the next six months.

EU member states can introduce border controls under certain conditions after getting the green signal from the EU Commission. They are only allowed to have them for six months, after which they can be renewed for up to a maximum of three years, according to recent changes in the Schengen Borders Code. Border checks had reached their peak during the COVID-19 pandemic when all EU countries had them.

Immigration has been a leading political issue in Germany since its former Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the doors to welcome a million Syrian refugees in 2015-16. Since then, anti-immigrant sentiment has been in lock-step with the rise in popularity of anti-immigrant political parties such as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the left-conservative Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) that was formed this year.

The head of the AfD, Alice Weidel, recently called for a five-year ban on immigration and naturalisation in an interview with a state broadcaster. In the recently concluded elections in the States of Saxony and Brandenburg, AfD came in second overall, and in the State of Thuringia, AfD was the largest party. In fact, AfD leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, has been called a Nazi given his extremist views.

The impressive numbers won by AfD and also the BSW, have once again put a question mark on the ruling coalition comprised of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), environmental Greens and liberal Free Democrats (FDP). With national election in Germany slated for 2025, the performance by these three nationally ruling parties has been dismal in State elections, with SPD’s win in Brandenburg being the only exception.