German Interior Nancy Faeser speaks during a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)
FILE - A German federal police officer stops cars and trucks at a border crossing point between Germany and Czech Republic in Furth am Wald, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's government ordered temporary controls at all land borders Monday, expanding checks it already has in place at some borders, saying that it was responding to irregular migration and to protect the country from extremist threats.
“We are strengthening our internal security through concrete action and we are continuing our tough stance against irregular migration,†Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said at a news conference.
The ministry said that it notified the European Union on Monday of the order to set up border controls at the land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark for a period of six months. They will begin next week on Sept. 16.
This adds to restrictions already in place on the land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.
“Until we achieve strong protection of the EU’s external borders with the new Common European Asylum System, we must increase controls at our national borders even more,†Faeser said.
She noted that Germany already has had more than 30,000 rejections of people seeking to cross its borders since last October.
“This served to further limit irregular migration and to protect against the acute dangers posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime. We are doing everything we can to better protect people in our country against this,†she said.
The order comes as coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing pressure to take a tougher stance on irregular migration.
Last month, a deadly killed three people. The perpetrator was a Syrian asylum-seeker who claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State group.
Even more recently, police in Munich near the Israeli Consulate last week, fatally wounding him. Authorities said they believe he was planning to attack the consulate on the 52nd anniversary of the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Germany has accepted large numbers of refugees from the Middle East over the past decade, but now a political backlash is building, with . That party, Alternative for Germany, earlier this month in Thuringia and had a strong showing in another state, Saxony.
In June, Scholz vowed that the country would start deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria again after a left one police officer dead and four other people wounded.
to their homeland on Aug. 30, the first time it did so since since August 2021, when the . The government described the 28 Afghan nationals as convicted criminals, but didn't clarify what their offenses were.
The applying for asylum in Germany last year rose to more than 350,000, an increase of just over 50% compared with the year before. The largest number of asylum-seekers came from Syria, followed by Turks and Afghans.
¹ú²úÓÕ»ó¸£Àû. All rights reserved.
For many Indigenous communities, access to financial services and economic opportu…
Trust in international money transfers has long been tied to physical places: a ba…
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Tax: | |
| Today's total: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
