Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser visits Poland’s border with Belarus

type:
News
, Date:
30 October 2024

Her trip to Poland focused on irregular migration and police cooperation.

Source: Christina Czybik

Federal Minister Faeser with Poland’s Interior Minister Siemoniak (Larger version opens in new window)
Source: Christina Czybik

At the invitation of her Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser travelled on Wednesday to Warsaw and to the Polish–Belarusian border. The two interior ministers discussed the situation at the European Union’s external border as well as police cooperation between their two countries and the implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).

“Here at the EU’s external border, Poland is making an important contribution to greater security and to reducing irregular migration to Europe,” Federal Minister Faeser said during her visit. She added that, in view of the current challenges, this was an enormous task that deserved respect.

Implementing the Common European Asylum System

Putting the CEAS into practice as soon as possible represents a major step forward for Europe. Doing so creates the necessary conditions for providing comprehensive protection for the EU’s external borders. Furthermore, the new system will ensure a fairer distribution of refugees throughout Europe and will thereby provide lasting relief for Germany’s towns and cities. A key element of the new system is that the asylum applications of people who have little chance of being granted protection will be processed at the EU’s external borders.

The CEAS is to be in place by June 2026, when the new rules will go into effect. The Federal Government is working hard to implement the new rules. “Germany has already presented draft legislation to implement the CEAS. We plan to apply the European law on asylum promptly, thoroughly and in exactly the same form that we achieved after years of very difficult negotiations,” Federal Minister Faeser said.

New EU directive on returns

In addition to the reform of the Common European Asylum System, a new EU directive on returning illegally staying third-country nationals is also to be adopted soon. Federal Minister Faeser welcomed the announcement by the President of the European Commission that the Commission would present a proposal for a new directive. The federal minister said, “An effective return system at European level is absolutely essential. Anyone who has no right to remain in the EU must leave, so that we can help those who truly need protection from war and terrorism. We must focus on making our return procedures more effective. Return decisions made by one EU member state must be more easily enforced throughout the entire EU, so that people who are required to leave cannot evade the requirement to return. This is another important step towards effectively limiting irregular migration.”

Checks along all German borders

Since mid-September, the Federal Police have been carrying out checks at all of Germany’s borders. This was another subject of discussion during Federal Minister Faeser’s visit in Poland. She explained, “We want to reduce irregular migration further, stop migrant smugglers and criminals, and detect Islamist extremists before they can do any harm. We both agree on this goal – and on the measures that we are taking together in many areas, because we closely coordinate our action with our neighbouring countries.”

Police cooperation

“Cooperation between the police forces in Germany and Poland is among the most intensive and extensive of its kind. It is a positive example for other police organisations in our neighbouring countries and in the EU,” Federal Minister Faeser said. Examples of best practices include the Police and Customs Cooperation Centre, the three joint Polish and German border police offices and joint patrols, the federal minister added.

The Federal Police are also working closely with their partner agencies in Poland to improve the traffic situation and to ensure that the border checks have as little impact as possible on commuters, trade and travel.

: Federal Minister Faeser with Poland’s Interior Minister Siemoniak …

Federal Minister Faeser with Poland’s Interior Minister Siemoniak

Source: Christina Czybik