Germany Closes Its Borders
After the elections in the East, the German government has decided on a snap introduction of immigration controls at all border crossings.
The German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, Social Democrat, has ordered temporary controls at all German land borders. The additional controls are to begin on September 16 and set to remain for six months, with possibility of extension. In fact, the borders to neighboring Austria have been held closed in a similar way since 2015. So this measure is not unusual, just not well regarded with the opposition in Germany. First, it is a near breach of the Schengen agreement, that allows free movement of persons and goods between member states. Second, Germany wants to be seen as the immigration-friendliest country in EU and actually, the right to asylum is written into the German constitution.
The reasons given for the controls now ordered, that are for all German borders, not just those to Austria, are not only to limit irregular migration but also to protect internal security from current threats from Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime. The Schengen agreement allows for such temporary measures in exceptional cases, where a member country considers it is under threat from unusual types and volumes of immigration, or they see a heightened risk for influx of criminality, terror and the like. These measures of extraordinary border controls, even complete closure of the border, must be notified in advance to the EU Commission when initiated and subsequently renewed every 6 months. It must be a temporary measure, but no time limit is defined.
There is no doubt that the border controls are introduced because of the perception of higher risk of terrorist attacks in Germany since the deadly knife attacks this summer. The latest in Solingen was especially sensitive because it was just before important state elections in the Eastern Länder Thuringia and Sachsen. The result of the elections were a significant win for the right-wing anti-immigration parties, not directly because of the terror, but certainly supporting the sentiment that something is awry with immigration.
The press revealed that the attacker was due for deportation because his asylum application had been rejected. Even the very tolerant German approach to asylum seekers had not resulted in any findings that he was politically persecuted in Syria, and thus found that his asylum application was baseless.
The following days, it was also published that the the expulsion ruling by the courts had not been executed upon for more than a year. That caused more public dissatisfaction with the ruling coalition under Chancellor Scholz, because of ineffective administration of the asylum laws and lack of control with potentially dangerous people. Obviously, a rejected asylum seeker will often carry some grievances against the host country.
The EU decided in April this year on a comprehensive “pact” on asylum and migration. It aims at solving exactly the same problems that Germany is now acting unilaterally on. It wants to curb illegal migration, prevent influx of asylum seekers with ‘obviously baseless’ grounds for their claims, and to restrict access for criminals and terrorists. The EU outer border must be protected, and internal borders kept open based on shared rules and responsibilities for the member states. Germany has zero non-Schengen land borders, only air and sea. But migrants arrive anyway, which means other member states are less effective at restricting migrant access than Germany requires at this time.
"This is the only way to stop the influx of refugees", said Nancy Faeser, quoted in Die Welt newspaper. Until the new common European asylum system comes to "strong protection of the EU's external borders", Germany must "control even more closely" within its national borders, as Faeser said at the press conference. The expanded measures serve to protect "against the acute dangers" posed by "Islamic terror and serious crime". The impact on commuters should be kept "as low as possible".
When rejected, asylum seekers must first agree to their deportation in a ¨voluntary declaration”. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than 30,000 people have been turned away since October.
Austria will in any case "not accept people who are rejected from Germany", as the conservative Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in the "Bild" and the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". "There is no room for maneuver." (From Die Welt)
The German acceleration ahead of implementation of the EU asylum and migration pact shows how far European politics have shifted to the right concerning migration. The EU’s problem was never really a lack of common standards on asylum – but a lack of will to enforce them. So the political reaction is most likely going to prove to be too little, too late. Centrist politicians attempt to neutralize the far right, but it is not successful. In Thuringia and Sachsen, forming new governing coalitions will be extremely difficult under the new parliamentary conditions.
Germany is learning, fast, that migration is Realpolitik. It comes late, because most EU countries have gotten to that realization years ago. The brand new asylum and migration pact is a soft compromise that will most likely not have sufficient punch to meet the expectations, seeing still more member countries implement their own versions.
Germany is also moving fast in the direction of including parts of the right-wing parties and factions in government. Mayors and lower ranking party members are already airing thoughts that maybe Alternative für Deutschland could be included in their parliamentary support in order to establish a viable government. Moving fast is perhaps an exaggeration, because nothing happens overnight in German politics, but still, the new normal is becoming more change, earlier than expected.
Thank you for your informative post concerning issues in Europe we don't hear much about here in the US.
How interesting. It reminded me of passing through Checkpoint Charlie on my first visit to Germany as a student, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Frankly, your report was the first time I heard this news from my vantage point in Japan. It seems that such a big decision should get more press outside of Europe.