Following her visit to Czechia, Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser also visited the German-Polish border region. Joint police and customs cooperation centres have been established in both countries.

Increased border controls: Joint police patrols and additional random checks in the border region

Joint protection measures along the two borders have temporarily been strengthened.

Today, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser visited the Joint Centre for German-Polish Police and Customs Cooperation at the Świecko border crossing point south of the German city of Frankfurt (Oder). Together with Poland’s Undersecretary of State Bartosz Grodecki, Minister Faeser met with police officers working at the centre to talk about the current situation in the border region.

Minister Faeser had previously met with her Czech counterpart, Interior Minister Vít Rakušan, on Friday to visit the Joint Centre for German-Czech Police and Customs Cooperation in Petrovice-Schwandorf and to discuss the current situation at the border between the two countries.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser visits the German-Polish and the German-Czech border regions

Reducing irregular secondary movement is one of the most important objectives of German-Polish cooperation. Some individuals whose asylum procedure officially has to be processed in a certain EU member state illegally travel to another member state to apply for asylum there.

The Federal Police have therefore continued to intensify random checks in the German-Polish border region. Several additional units of the Federal Police public order support forces have been deployed to this end. “We are acting as the current situation requires and are working hand in hand with our neighbours,” Federal Interior Minister Faeser said after her visit to Poland.

During today’s meeting, Minister Faeser and her Polish colleague agreed to

• intensify the sharing of information;
• carry out additional joint patrols;
• carry out additional joint checks on trains; and
• employ more staff at joint police stations.

Border checks only if absolutely necessary

Minister Faeser underlined that in a Europe of open borders, internal border checks are only conducted if absolutely necessary. They can only be ordered if there are no other means for effective border surveillance.

“We have to be aware that stationary border checks are a significant disruption to the everyday life of many people. Healthcare workers, craftspeople and many other commuters who work on both sides of the border every day would be affected. Delays and controls at the border have a major impact on our economy,” Faeser said.

She added that viable political solutions are only possible if there are European solutions, which makes it all the more important to move forward with reforming the common European Asylum System (CEAS).

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