Germany is introducing passport controls at all land borders from Monday. The country is trying to reduce the number of people entering without a valid visa. The measure is causing unrest among border residents. “It’s a shock to us.”
It is not the first time that Germany has introduced such measures. For special events or occurrences, such as the European Championship and corona, similar checks applied to the Netherlands and Belgium. This is a temporary measure: extra checks will be carried out for 6 months. What exactly that will look like is not yet clear.
Symbolic politics
Professor of European Studies Theresa Kuhn of the University of Amsterdam sees the border controls primarily as a political decision. “The German government is under enormous pressure, also because of the recent elections.”
In the state elections earlier this month, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made a historic gain. “With these measures, they think they can gain more support from their voters. This is really about public opinion.”
Who will enforce the law?
The announced checks are a response to terrorist-motivated incidents in recent weeks. Including the attack in Solingen, in which an asylum seeker whose application had been rejected stabbed three people to death. According to Kuhn, the attacks play a major role in the implementation of the measure.
But the professor is sceptical about the feasibility of the check: “At the moment there are already protests from the German unions and police. There is an enormous workload there.” She therefore does not expect the checks to be too strict.
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But the way in which Germany enforces border controls will also determine the impact for the Netherlands, Kuhn explains.
“If they start checking very small-scale and accurately, you can expect huge traffic jams, for example. That will also have a major impact on import and export,” she says.
Unrest in Dinxperlo
The decision is causing unrest among residents of the village of Dinxperlo in the Gelderse Achterhoek. Former councillor in the village Freek Diersen looks at the measures with suspicion, it takes them by surprise. “Here in the Netherlands we often say, or in dialect: ‘That falls raw on our roof’. We have been working for years on good contacts across the border, from government to civilian population”, he says.
According to Diersen, the border hardly exists for the citizens of the village. “We attach great value to the collaborations here, in many areas. Precisely because you have two cultures.”
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‘We understand each other here’
In 1993, the barrier at the border in Dinxperlo was closed for the last time. Diersen is afraid of the image that extra control will give off in the village. “The border is no longer tangible for me. I know it exists here, but I don’t feel it.”
He describes it as something that needs to be cherished. “German culture, Dutch culture, shopping, dealing with each other, the different governments: first of all, we understand each other.”
Approval by the European Commission
Germany is part of the Schengen area, where free movement of people and services has been agreed. Does this measure mean the end of this agreement? According to Kuhn, not: “Germany has introduced border controls before.”
“What is new now is that it is being implemented at all borders,” she adds. Under European rules, a country can temporarily introduce border controls, provided that it is approved by the European Commission.
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Germany is introducing passport controls at all land borders from Monday.
Sending back migrants
Kuhn therefore splits the measures into two parts. “On the one hand, it is now about border controls, to get more control over migration.” But on the other hand, the coming days will see whether migrants can be sent back at the border.
“That is more problematic for the asylum policy of Europe as a whole. I have my doubts about whether they will actually do that, and are allowed to do that,” she says. For example, Austrian Foreign Minister Gerhard Karner has already announced that his country will not take in rejected migrants from Germany.
Dutch politics
The German plans also raise questions in Dutch politics. Minister Marjolein Faber of asylum and migration responded with understanding to the German plans, and previously also expressed the wish to introduce similar measures for the Netherlands.
According to Kuhn, the Netherlands is generally more cautious with border controls than other countries, but if the government wants it, it is feasible. “We can go to the European Commission, as Germany has done now, and request this. The minister would like that of course,” says Kuhn. “But to what extent it really tackles the asylum influx, I wonder.”
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