“The European Football Championship is a good reason to introduce border controls around Germany. However, one might get the impression that they were just a welcome pretext to do so,” the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper writes, commenting on demands in Germany to maintain stationary border controls after Euro 2024.
“Sad news for the European Union”
The author of the commentary, Jasper von Altenbockum, points out that thanks to the checks “one or two violent hooligans were detained”. “Once again, however, the greatest attention is being paid to smugglers, illegal migrants and the numerous arrest warrants that were finally able to be carried out,” he notes.
He adds that this sheds light on many cases that escape police investigation during normal border traffic. “For the EU and the Schengen Agreement, this is sad news,” says the “FAZ” journalist.
All hope lies in the new EU asylum law
The author wonders whether this is a sufficient reason to maintain controls on all borders permanently. Even in the liberal FDP, which co-governs Germany, there are supporters of such a solution – especially since controls in the east and south are to remain at least until December. “Why only in the east, if the problems in the west are not much smaller?” the author asks.
“However, even the Police Union, which is usually not afraid to express its opinions, advises against it. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Nancy Faeser, also opposes maintaining control. This is supported by staff shortages and the European idea. Expectations related to the new EU asylum law, which will not come into force until a few years, are growing. We should wish Schengen that these expectations will be fulfilled. But there is no certainty,” assesses the journalist from “FAZ”.
Checks during the Olympic Games in Paris
The temporary border controls introduced by Germany in connection with Euro 2024 are to remain in force until Friday, 19 July. However, this does not apply to the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, where stationary controls have been carried out since the autumn due to the increase in illegal migration; they will last at least until 15 December this year. In turn, controls have been in force on the border between Germany and Austria for several years and will last at least until 11 November.
On Sunday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that stationary border controls on the German-French border would be maintained in connection with the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, which will begin on July 26. There are no plans to extend them on the borders with the Benelux countries and Denmark. Mobile patrols will return near these borders, primarily to combat human smuggling.
Dispute over maintaining stationary checks
The opposition Christian Democrats CDU/CSU are pushing for a revision of these plans and the continuation of stationary checks. Bavarian CSU chief Markus Soeder said in an interview with ZDF that abolishing permanent checks “would be a breach of the chancellor’s promise to strengthen Germany’s protection.”
The Christian Democrats point to figures as an argument: from 7 to 27 June, 150 people smugglers were detained during checks, and in more than 3,000 cases, entry into Germany was refused. Similar voices are also heard in the ranks of the liberal FDP, which co-governs Germany. “We have seen how useful border controls are, especially during the European Championships. Minister Faeser must present a security strategy at the next government meeting, on how border controls can be extended after the European Championships,” the party’s secretary general, Bijan Djir-Sarai, told the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”.
The coalition Greens are against it. “In normal times, we should return to tried and tested mobile checks,” said Marcel Emmerich, the Greens’ representative on the Bundestag’s Home Affairs Committee. He added that temporary stationary border checks during major events are “an important part of the security concept” aimed at hooligans, potential terrorists and other criminals.
Source: Gazeta
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