Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended this measure by declaring that it had made it possible to reduce asylum requests and illegal passages, while the head of the opposition and the favorite of the election of February 23 Friedrich Merz claims checks stricter.
The outgoing German government has extended border controls by six months in an attempt to reduce irregular immigration, a key question as the federal elections on February 23.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed on Wednesday that his government had notified this extension to the European Commission, which will remain in force until September 15.
“Thanks to border controls, we manage to reduce illegal immigration. The figures prove it,” said Scholz.
Since the implementation of these measures last fall, the German authorities have turned 47,000 people at their borders, registered a fall of a third of asylum applications and arrested 1,900 alleged smugglers.
Germany had already set up border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland, before extending them in September at all remaining borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.
The European Union Schengen area makes it possible to travel without visa in most member states, Switzerland also participating, although it is not a member of the EU.
However, the EU authorizes temporary border controls in the event of serious security threats, provided that it is a last resort and limited duration solution.
Electoral tensions on border policy
Migration has become a central theme of the German electoral campaign, the leader of the opposition Friedrich Merz, at the top of the race, calling for even more stringent measures.
Mr. Merz promised that if he became Chancellor, he would impose permanent border controls and block all illegal “without exception” entries, arguing that current EU regulations are “obviously dysfunctional” and that Germany must give priority to national law.
The outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized the position of Merz, insisting that such a policy would be incompatible with both German law and European law and risks undermining European unity.
As the elections approached, the debate on border control continues to shape the German political landscape, migration policies being called upon to become a decisive issue for the next government.
Additional sources • Adaptation: Serge Duchêne
