The temporary measure is intended to address anti-immigration backlash
Germany will reinstate passport checks at its land borders for at least the next six months, in an effort to limit “irregular migration,” according to the Berlin government.
Germany shares a 3,700km land border with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. All of these countries are part of the EU Schengen Zone.
“We are bolstering our internal security through concrete action and maintaining our tough stance against irregular migration,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser declared on Monday, announcing the measure.
“We are doing everything in our power to protect the people in our country from this,” Faeser added.
Passport controls are slated to commence next Monday and last for six months, unless extended by Berlin. According to Faeser, their aim is to crack down on individuals entering Germany without visas and address threats posed by “Islamist terror groups” and transnational organized crime.
Germany intensified controls on its borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland last year, in response to “a significant rise in first-time asylum applications,” according to the state broadcaster DW. These controls were also presented as temporary, but have been extended on multiple occasions.
The stabbing incident at a diversity festival in Solingen last month, where three people were killed and eight injured, has reignited debate among Germans concerning mass migration from outside the EU. The perpetrator, a 26-year-old Syrian, had reportedly sought asylum in 2022.
The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) parties gained significant ground in the state elections in Thuringia and Saxony last week. The ruling coalition – which includes Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats – is facing another challenging vote in Brandenburg later this month.
The government has reportedly been engaged in discussions regarding migration control with the mainstream opposition parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU).
Immigrants constitute an estimated 18% of Germany’s population, based on official figures. Of this group, nearly 40% have resided in the country for less than 10 years.