According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, Germany will tighten controls at all its land borders to reduce migration. The Guardian reports that this decision is legally challenging to justify and represents a significant blow to European free movement, potentially testing EU unity.
Faeser said that the new controls aim to increase migrant pushbacks at Germany’s borders and “protect the country from the acute threats posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime.”
In 2023, the number of asylum seekers in Germany reached 351,915, with 153,361 applications already submitted in 2024.
According to Berlin, the checks in place at the country’s border with Austria since 2015, and more recently with Poland, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, will be extended next week to France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
Around two weeks ago, the German coalition government announced changes to gun laws and asylum regulations following an attack in the city of Solingen, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility.
The new measures grant federal police the authority to carry out on-the-spot weapon checks, including knives, in “high-crime” areas. Regarding asylum seekers, the measures include faster deportation of those whose applications have be
