Nancy Faeser’s border experience: What will happen to the new asylum system?

Nancy Faeser’s borderline experience can be measured quite precisely: three meters in height, 280 kilometers in total length.

At 29 degrees, the Interior Minister stands at the so-called green border in Kapitan Andreevo, Bulgaria, at the double fence between Europe and Turkey. The border barriers are lined with barbed wire and flanked by thermal imaging cameras and alarm sirens. It doesn’t look so inviting, but that’s what the construct is intended for: for isolation and deterrence.

Faeser is here to get an idea of ​​the situation, but above all to bring one of her most important political projects to fruition. She wants her visit at the beginning of the week to be seen as a message: the hard-fought and recently passed EU asylum reform is of little use if it is not applied in practice.

Asylum procedures at the European external borders, carried out uniformly and quickly in border camps, from which a fairer distribution of refugees among the member states takes place – this is how the update of European asylum policy can be roughly outlined. The EU Parliament only decided on it last week. It was close again, quite a few criticized the new harshness in dealing with refugees, for others even this wasn’t tough enough. The countries on the external border now have two years to implement the new rules.

Two years? If Faeser had his way, things would probably go a little faster. Bulgaria could play an important role in this.

The chain of evidence

Anyone who makes it from neighboring Turkey to the Bulgarian side of the border fence – whether with the help of a ladder over it, digging under it with shovels or using smugglers through dark canals – is at the beginning of the Balkan route. It is not uncommon for migrants who have arrived irregularly to enter Germany – and thus to asylum numbers that push municipalities to the limit of their own capabilities, perhaps including interior ministers.

The number of initial asylum applications rose from 218,000 (2022) to 330,000 (2023), the AfD’s poll numbers rose from 11 to up to 23 percent. A chain of evidence that Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to dismantle with a more robust migration policy. Those who are entitled to asylum should continue to receive it – but those who are not entitled should be consistently sent back. Interior Minister Faeser is ultimately responsible for success or failure. Both know: It won’t work without a new, functioning EU asylum system.

Standing next to Faeser at the border fence are Kalin Stoyanov, the Bulgarian Interior Minister, and Anton Zlatanov, head of the border police, in their dark suits under the sun. Their numbers make them confident.

This year they counted around 7,000 attempts to cross the border illegally – last year there were 27,000 in the same period, a total of around 180,000. Those were “prevented attempts”. No illegal “pushbacks” in which refugees are pushed back with violence. They value that.

The difference? Refugees try to cross the border fence from the Turkish side. Thermal imaging cameras discover them, a siren sounds the alarm, and the border guards rush to the spot in their cars. Most of the refugees then disappeared in the hinterland. Attempt prevented, at least that’s what they say at the green border.

Admittedly, there have been “isolated cases” of pushbacks by the Bulgarian border police, Interior Minister Stoyanov dismisses. These should be reduced “to zero” and punished consistently anyway. Faeser is familiar with the relevant media reports. The Interior Minister noticeably often speaks of the European border police Frontex as a guarantor that constitutional standards are adhered to, and she repeatedly appeals that their help can be requested. But Faeser also knows: the member state there remains responsible for protecting the respective external border.

The EU has a very attractive lure to further motivate the Bulgarians: the country has been part of the Schengen area since March 31st, which means that visa controls at the air and sea internal borders are no longer necessary – but not yet on land routes. According to Interior Minister Stoyanov, that should change this year.

“Relatively pointless”

For Faeser, it is also about credibility, about proving that humanitarian standards are not undermined by the “new framework” for control and order. The new asylum system is the key to controlling migration and protecting these same standards for refugees, says Faeser. “This is only possible with European solutions that also work in reality.”

Now it’s about the “quickest possible implementation”. This is the central message on Faeser’s journey, which also takes her to Romania, also a country with an EU external border and part of the Balkan route. It assures the countries of German support, and their visits should be seen as a sign of solidarity. But it is also in their own interest. Faeser also emphasizes this again and again: Open internal borders can only exist with strong protection of the EU’s external borders.

“One hundred percent approval,” says Andreas Roßkopf, chairman of the police union, Federal Police/Customs Department, to star. Only at the EU’s external borders can people actually be prevented from crossing the German border without authorization. “Ergo: In our opinion, the border controls that we have introduced are relatively pointless.”

Most people who enter Germany irregularly would be smuggled in. “These smugglers react to our controls within a very short time,” says Roßkopf: the supposed obstacle would simply be avoided.

Since mid-October, Germany has been relying on stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. These had already existed on the border with Austria for years. Faeser thus reversed course. In the summer of 2023, she spoke out vehemently against internal border controls, saying they were always an “ultima ratio”: their introduction would pose a serious threat to public order and internal security, she said. In view of the high number of asylum seekers and public pressure, the Interior Minister finally gave in.

It was also an admission that the “strong protection” of the EU’s external borders, which Faeser is campaigning for, can still be expanded. And the German controls on neighboring countries, which were actually intended as a temporary measure, are now essential. Just a few days ago, Faeser made it clear that these should remain in place during the European Football Championship in June and July.

The internal border controls have shown initial success; since their introduction, 708 smugglers have been arrested and 17,600 unauthorized entries have been prevented, Faeser announced a few days ago. In addition, the number of asylum applications is currently a fifth lower than in the same period last year. But Andreas Roßkopf from the police union is skeptical as to whether these reports of success will remain.

The German border controls had a positive effect in that neighboring countries felt obliged to follow suit with their own controls. “However, these controls will also be reduced again,” says Roßkopf. As a result, the positive effect could quickly evaporate.

“Due to internal border controls, we have a high bycatch rate and often detect other crimes: drug smuggling, driving without a license,” says Roßkopf. There’s no reason to complain, but that’s not the reason why the border controls were introduced: “to combat uncontrolled migration.”

Especially since the federal police are reaching their limits. According to the GdP, 2,300 kilometers of border length are currently being monitored at almost 30 border checkpoints. In addition, 1,600 colleagues from the riot police are tied up. This is at the limit of what is possible, says Roßkopf; many more officers cannot be mobilized in regular operations.

“Now the European Championship is coming, which means we have another 1,300 kilometers to protect on the western border.” During the tournament, checks will be carried out at all nine German external borders. We are currently “desperately planning” how this is actually going to work.

Where the new asylum system could become a reality for the first time

And so back to the green border in Bulgaria, where the new “Common European Asylum System” (CEAS), as it is called in technical jargon, could experience its first test run.

In May, the EU Commission plans to present its plans for a pilot project to test the planned border camps and fast-track procedures in practice for the first time. There are still many unanswered questions, such as these: Can detention-like border camps and humanitarian standards actually be reconciled – or are there a risk of overcrowded facilities lacking everything, not least humanitarian standards?

Bulgaria has agreed to implement the new rules in a pilot project, as Faeser can happily announce in Kapitan Andreevo. If the new asylum system proves successful here, at one of the “most frequented” border points with Turkey, according to Faeser, it could also stimulate the enthusiasm of other EU states with external borders to implement the rules quickly.

“We will effectively limit irregular migration,” says Faeser resolutely. At least that’s the plan. Will it open?