Germany has reported to the European Commission that starting next Monday, it will introduce border inspections at all of its national terrestrial frontiers for a half-year period. Aiming to control and manage irregular immigration flow in a manner compliant with European Union legislation and its free border protocols, Germany’s Interior Minister of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Nancy Faeser, characterised the initiative. “With tangible steps, we are fortifying our domestic security,” she declared on Monday. Faeser also mentioned that Germany needed to defend itself against imminent risks such as Islamist terrorism and severe criminality until the fresh collective asylum system of the EU becomes operational.
Faeser assured that the undertaken measures will be as effortless as feasible for daily cross-border commuters, and will mirror the inspections set up the previous year on German borders with Switzerland, Poland, and the Czech Republic. German leaders are currently striving to maintain a steady administration, a stable economy, and a secure societal system.
This announcement was made one week following a historic victory for the far-right in a state election, where issues regarding migration and security took centre stage. Another state election is set to take place on September 22nd in Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin. The far-right party AfD, which has advocated for closed borders for approximately the past decade, presently leads the ruling SPD by four poll points. Germany shares national borders with nine other countries, out of which all except Switzerland are EU members. Last year, Germany received 300,000 asylum applications.
Until now, Faeser and her representatives have contended that indefinite border closures and the refusal of asylum seekers contravene EU law. Pressure to modify this stance has been mounting following a lethal knife assault in Solingen in the west of Germany the previous month, which resulted in three fatalities. The suspect in this case is a Syrian man who stayed on in Germany even after his asylum application was declined after having arrived via Bulgaria.
The Berlin coalition has been given a deadline of Tuesday by Germany’s centre-right opposition group CDU, to put forth solid plans for irregular immigration control. Especially problematic are the Dublin rules, notorious for their dysfunctionality, which mandate that the initial EU country entered by an individual must handle their asylum request. Alluding to these rules, both conservative and far-right politicians have criticised neighbouring nations for dispatching their own asylum seekers for Germany to process and care for.
The possibility of Germany repatriating individuals at its national boundaries has already sparked concern in adjacent Austria. Austria is scheduled for parliamentary elections on September 29th, with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), an advocate for border controls for a long time, being ahead in the polls with 27 per cent support. In recent times, the ruling centre-right People’s Party (OVP) has narrowed down the FPO’s lead to merely two points. Austria’s OVP interior minister, Gerhard Karner, insisted on Monday that his nation would not accept any migrants rejected at the German-Austrian frontier. Mr Karner told the Bild tabloid that there was no leeway on this issue and he has given orders to the federal police chief not to allow any re-entries.