Faeser extends fixed border controls by three months

The stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, which were first ordered in mid-October, are to be continued until at least March 15 of next year. The Federal Ministry of the Interior announced on Friday that the controls would be continued in order to combat smuggling crime even more effectively and limit irregular migration and had been notified accordingly to the European Commission.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) said: "Our measures are working." Thanks to the temporary border controls and measures closely coordinated with neighboring countries, the number of unauthorized entries nationwide had fallen by more than 60 percent from over 20,000 in October to around 7,300 unauthorized entries in November.

Faeser had extended the border controls several times for shorter periods since their introduction on 16 October. The stationary internal border controls at the German-Austrian border, which began in the fall of 2015, currently run until 11 May 2024.

Border controls are not actually planned within the Schengen area and must be reported to Brussels. If it is only a few days, this can be done with a short notice period. However, this option ends after two months, in the case of Germany on 15 December.

FDP interior politician Ann-Veruschka Jurisch said: "It is regrettable that the border controls with Switzerland are being extended until March." The member of the Bundestag, who has her constituency in Constance, complained that the resulting traffic jams and associated delays in border traffic were particularly restrictive for commuters. In any case, the checks carried out by German police officers on the Swiss side are more successful than the stationary checks at the border. This is where most rejections are issued.

On Thursday, the EU country Slovenia extended the border controls with neighboring countries Hungary and Croatia, which were originally scheduled to end on 22 December, by six months. The reason given for this was the ongoing threat of terrorism.