German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (pictured) is planning to temporarily resume stationary checks at the country’s borders with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland. Credit: Nancy-faeser.de.
Prague, Oct 16 (CTK) – Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan has confirmed that Germany is preparing to introduce border checks with the Czech Republic. Writing on Twitter, Rakusan said the checks would be random, in a similar regime applied by the Czech Republic to its border with Slovakia.
Rakusan (STAN) spoke with his German counterpart Nancy Faeser about the situation today.
“The checks will be carried out in a random mode, similar to the way we check the border with Slovakia. The aim – as in our country – is to effectively combat smugglers. This is further proof that Europe needs an effective joint solution for the protection of its external borders,” Rakusan said.
According to Die Welt newspaper, Germany is planning to temporarily resume stationary checks at its borders with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland, following the example of the checks it has been carrying out at the border with Austria since 2015. The newspaper said Faeser planned to notify the European Commission of the move. The reason for the checks, which have been tightened significantly in Germany in recent weeks, is the rising number of asylum applications and an increase in people smuggling.
Last Wednesday, the Czech government decided to extend the random checks at the border with Slovakia, originally announced for ten days, until 2 November. The Czech Republic, Poland and Austria introduced checks at the Slovak border from 4 October.
In the first week, the checks intercepted 283 irregular migrants. Police officers denied entry to 234 people; in 27 cases the Czech Republic used readmission measures towards Slovakia. Police officers also detained 12 smugglers.
The police can check anyone, so the Interior Ministry recommends that people near the state border carry an ID card or passport.
Faeser has long been under pressure from the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the DPolG police trade union and the state ministers of Saxony, Brandenburg and Hesse to introduce stationary checks at the borders of the three neighbouring countries, as are already in place with Austria. The checks on the Bavarian-Austrian border do not cover the entire border, but only selected points.
Faeser has so far rejected the extension of stationary checks, describing such a security measure as an instrument of last resort. Now however, after much hesitation, the German government has decided to extend the sections with stationary border controls, as the police are said to fear an increased security threat in the context of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian radical movement Hamas, as reported on Welt.de.
More than 200,000 people have applied for asylum in Germany this year, and it is speculated that there could be as many as 400,000 by the end of the year.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has therefore taken the decision to intervene in tackling the migrant crisis, holding talks with CDU head Friedrich Merz and representatives of the federal states last Friday. They exchanged opinions and clarified positions, as the Chancellor seeks a broad consensus within Germany on how to help manage migration.
