Poland extends border controls with Germany until Oct 4
Warsaw
Poland will extend temporary border controls with Germany until October 4, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiski announced on Sunday, according to the PAP news agency.
The checks, initially due to expire on August 5, had been widely expected to continue. They were introduced on July 7 in response to ongoing German controls aimed at curbing irregular migration. Border checks with Lithuania will also remain in place.
Kierwiski said the extension had been notified to the European Commission and communicated to neighbouring EU countries. 'Our European partners fully understand the decision,' he was quoted as saying. A further assessment of the measures will be made in September based on data from border guards, the military and police.
When asked to comment on Poland's move, a spokesman for the German Interior Ministry referred to earlier statements by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who had previously welcomed the Polish checks as an 'important step in the joint effort to combat illegal migration.'
The Polish government argues that the stepped-up controls have been effective. Since their introduction, Poland has reported a '98% coverage' of its borders.
Germany began conducting random checks at the Polish border in October 2023 and intensified them after Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative government took office in May. Dobrindt also authorized the return of asylum seekers at the border, prompting a response from Warsaw.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has linked the lifting of Poland's border checks to possible changes in German policy. Tusk's centrist government has also come under pressure from right-wing vigilante groups who patrol near the border and accuse Germany of pushing back migrants who never previously entered Poland.
According to the Polish Interior Ministry, from July 7 to 30, authorities checked more than 243,000 people and 110,000 vehicles at the German border. Entry was denied to 105 individuals. During the same period, Poland accepted 72 people returned by Germany and rejected two others; it also returned six migrants to Germany.
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