BERLIN: Germany on Monday moved to add new checks along its eastern and southern borders as it manages a rise in migrant arrivals.
Berlin notified the European Union of its plans for stationary checks at crossings with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland to counter people smuggling and irregular migration, the interior ministry said in a statement.
“It is now necessary to take all possible measures to stop this cruel business,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement. While Switzerland is not in the European Union, it is part of Europe´s Schengen open-borders area, along with Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Within Schengen, checks are permitted only in exceptional circumstances and must be notified with Brussels before they can be implemented. Germany also notified the EU of extension to its existing border controls with Austria, a legacy of the 2015 migrant crisis, when hundreds of thousands of people streamed into the country.
The new checks with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland would apply for 10 days from Monday and could be extended up to a maximum of two months, the ministry said. The controls with Austria would be extended for six months from November 12.
Border police would apply the new controls “flexibly” and “depending on the current situation” at the border, Faeser said. “We want to return as quickly as possible to internal borders, where we do not have to carry out checks,” she said, stressing the importance of common European rules.