In a move that has sparked controversy, Germany has expanded border controls to all nine of its neighboring countries, aiming to stem the flow of irregular migrants. This decision, announced last week, comes on the heels of several deadly extremist attacks that have heightened public fears and bolstered support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Federal police, dressed in high-visibility vests, are now conducting spot checks at road and highway crossings across the country, despite heavy rains. Officers are stopping passenger cars, buses, and other vehicles, demanding identification papers and searching vehicle trunks.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated that the expanded controls are intended to reduce irregular migration and “stop criminals and identify Islamists early.” This initiative follows a series of suspected Islamist attacks, including a knife rampage in Solingen last month that resulted in three deaths and eight injuries. The Syrian suspect in this case, linked to the Islamic State group, had evaded deportation.
Under the new policy, checks can be carried out within 30 kilometers of the border, according to police spokesperson Daniel Rosin in Kehl, near the border with Strasbourg, France. This extends beyond road patrols, with officers also monitoring cross-border trams and trains. While border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland were already in place, the new crackdown now extends to the borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark.
The recent attacks have put immense pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to tighten its policies on migrants and asylum seekers, particularly with national elections approaching next year. However, Andreas Rosskopf, head of the German police union, expressed skepticism about the measure’s effectiveness in curbing migration and people smuggling, highlighting the difficulty of covering the expanded border area.
This move has drawn protests from other EU member states, who view it as a unilateral action that undermines the bloc’s open borders policy. Critics argue that the expanded controls are impractical and will not solve the underlying issues driving migration, while potentially harming legitimate travel and economic activity.
