In an interview, Nancy Faeser is open to short-term, stationary border controls on the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic in order to better combat smugglers. However, that does not mean that asylum seekers are no longer coming.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) sees the establishment of short-term stationary controls on the Polish and Czech borders as an opportunity to combat smuggling crime more aggressively. Such additional controls would have to “dovetail well with the surveillance of the entire border area by the veil search,” Faeser told “Welt am Sonntag”. To this end, the presence of the federal police on the Polish and Czech borders has already been increased.
At the same time, Faeser dampened expectations of such a step: “But one should not suggest that no more asylum seekers will come as soon as there are stationary border controls,” she said. If someone asks for asylum at the border, the asylum application must be examined in Germany; this is “a clear legal obligation.” In addition, short-term stationary border controls would have to be “notified” to the EU Commission.
The EU Commission must agree to stationary border controls in advance
In this context, Faeser referred to “excellent cooperation” with Switzerland on border controls. Federal police officers, in close coordination with Swiss police forces, are also allowed to check Swiss territory and prevent unauthorized entry, said the SPD politician. “There could be something similar with the Czech Republic. The agreements on this are already underway.”
The deputy parliamentary group leader of the Union, Andrea Lindholz (CSU), demanded a clear strategy from Faeser regarding temporary stationary border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic. If the minister’s statements are “not an election campaign stunt,” then she expects Faeser “to put a timetable on the table by Monday at the latest,” Lindholz told the “Bild” newspaper.
The opposition politician was also surprised that Faeser had not previously commented on this in the Bundestag. A number of questions arose such as “When will these border controls be set up? Are there already readmission agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic?”
Faeser continued to refer to the veil search during the Bundestag debate on Friday at the border control. However, she admitted that in order to combat smugglers it may “also be necessary in some cases” to “carry out stationary border controls”. The high number of refugees shows that “we are called upon to restrict irregular migration in every way,” said Faeser. However, she warned against simple solutions.
Criticism of Nancy Faeser in the Bundestag survey
On Friday there was a tough exchange in the Bundestag about the course of migration policy. The Union called for a change of course. Faeser is torpedoing an agreement at the European level on better management of migration, said CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt. Faeser, in turn, accused the CDU and CSU of campaigning on the backs of the refugees.
The federal police reported another significant increase in unauthorized entries on Friday. Accordingly, 14,701 such border crossings were registered in August. This was 66 percent more than in the same month last year. For the first eight months of the year, a total of 70,753 illegal entries were recorded. In the same period in 2022 there were almost 45,000.
Source: Stern
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