Germany to extend controls to all its borders, including with France

Germany to extend border controls to all its borders “reduce illegal immigration”announced the government of Olaf Scholz on Monday, September 9. Temporary controls with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark will be put in place for six months starting September 16, details a press release from the Ministry of the Interior. They will be added to the controls already in place at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.

Berlin considers the strengthening of controls necessary for “protecting internal security against current threats of Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime”two weeks after the Solingen attack claimed by the Islamic State group. Asylum and immigration policy has returned to the center of debate in Germany with the strong rise of the far-right AfD party, which obtained record results in two regional elections in early September.

The Interior Ministry said it had notified the EU authorities of these new controls, as they are exceptional measures on European Union territory that Brussels must be informed of. Since the triple stabbing murder in Solingen, the alleged perpetrator of which was a 26-year-old Syrian who should have been expelled, Olaf Scholz’s coalition has been showing its determination to be firm in terms of immigration control.