Internal borders of the EU - Bavaria's interior minister: border controls still necessary
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann has rejected Green Party demands for an end to stationary border controls. "We need intensive border controls more than ever for security and migration policy reasons," the CSU politician told dpa. The global political situation is as tense as it has been in decades. "Islamist terrorism still has Europe firmly in its sights." At the same time, the protection of the EU's external borders is still woefully inadequate.
Green Party politicians had criticized the internal border controls to Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland, ordered by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), in an open letter to the EU Commission. Germany is currently not acting in accordance with the Schengen Border Code, the letter states.
Criticism of Internal Border Controls
Stationary internal border controls are causing strain for people and businesses in border regions, commuters, trade, and the police themselves. A new expert opinion also shows that the intended effect of the border controls and the success stories related to them are highly questionable and often not statistically proven.
Herrmann disagreed. The immediate border controls at the borders of the Free State to Austria and the Czech Republic, in combination with the consistent surveillance checks in the border area, are very effective. "This creates a fine-mesh control network. Our significantly reinforced Bavarian Border Police coordinates closely with the Federal Police, which also controls the border and the border area." The successes of the controls are also statistically verifiable.
Border controls within the Schengen area are not normally permitted and must be reported to Brussels. Faeser did this for the land borders to the Czech Republic, Poland, and Switzerland last October. Stationary controls at the land border to Austria have been in place since 2015.
The Green Party had also expressed their concerns about the CSU's stance on internal border controls, as CSU politician Joachim Herrmann supported the stationary controls at Bavaria's borders with Austria and the Czech Republic. The Green Party, in an open letter to the EU Commission, criticized Germany's actions, stating that they are not in compliance with the Schengen Border Code.
