Politics Germany extends border controls until mid-September
Germany is continuing controls at all its external borders. The federal government extended the special regulation, which expired in March, by six months until September 15.
12.02.2025, 12:48
SDA
"With border controls, we are effectively pushing back irregular migration," explained Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser added: "We are stopping smugglers who brutally commodify people and smuggle them across borders. And we are putting a stop to criminals and extremists."
Controls at all borders since September
Border controls are not actually planned in the European Schengen area. Last September, however, Germany extended the controls already in place in the east and south of the country to the borders with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The reason given for the stationary controls at the time was illegal immigration and protection against Islamist terrorists and cross-border crime.
Ministry of the Interior: 47,000 rejections
According to the Ministry of the Interior, around 80,000 unauthorized entries have been detected in recent months, around 1,900 smugglers have been arrested and around 47,000 people have been turned back - for example due to forged documents or missing visas. This special regulation is now being extended. "With the border controls, we are effectively pushing back irregular migration, as the figures show," explained Scholz.
Controls have been in place at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since October 2023, while they were introduced at the German-Austrian land border in autumn 2015.
