Saxony sets up new "border search group"

Saxony wants to increase control pressure at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic with its own search group. This was announced by Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) during a visit to Görlitz. The unit with the abbreviation FGG (Fahndungsgruppe Grenze - Border Investigation Group) is to start work in Seifhennersdorf in the area of the Görlitz Police Directorate from October 1 and in Pirna under the direction of the Dresden Police Directorate on November 1, 2025. Twelve additional officers will be deployed at each of the two locations and will work in uniform or plain clothes.

In addition to reducing illegal migration, the focus will be on combating cross-border crime, including property and drug offenses. The local focus is on areas close to the border away from the freeways. The officers of the new group coordinate with the existing joint search groups of the state police and federal police as well as a special unit to combat car theft.

Wish for own border police fails due to lack of funds

Schuster admitted that Saxony currently lacks the financial resources to "make a big push for its own border police force". This would only make sense from a staffing level of 350 officers. That is why they are now stepping in with their own resources, so to speak, in order to strengthen the existing joint search groups. "I don't have a border police force, but I do have an entry point for greater search pressure in the border regions."

Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) put forward the idea of a separate border police force during the election campaign and set up a task force to examine the project. The background at the time was a sharp increase in illegal migration and the associated crime at the borders. The task force proposed a staffing level of 327 to 660 border police officers. This could not be recruited from the state police force, it said.

Schuster: "Border controls are working"

Schuster visited Görlitz in the morning to gain an impression of the border controls and their impact on the traffic, assembly and crime situation.

He drew a positive interim balance in the development of migrant numbers. While an average of 1,000 people per week were still arriving at Saxony's initial reception facilities in September 2023, this figure is currently only around 100. "The border controls are working", he said. We are approaching the "normal German situation" from the years before 2015. However, it is important to hold out for a while longer.

Schuster welcomed the extension of border controls announced by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU). This will provide the long-awaited relief for local authorities. The fact that Dobrindt is continuing this is also in Saxony's interests.