Border controls in Rhineland-Palatinate: commuters in traffic jam, criticism grows!

Border controls in Rhineland-Palatinate: commuters in traffic jam, criticism grows!

Saarbrücken, Deutschland - In the past few months, the situation at the German boundaries has changed dramatically. Since September 16, 2024, the Federal Police have been increasing the national borders in Luxembourg, Belgium and France. These measures were ordered by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to reduce illegal entry to Germany. According to the Federal Police Directorate in Koblenz, there have already been 1,159 illegal entry, including 726 from France and 370 from Luxembourg, such as n-tv.de reported.

scope of controls

The new border controls were not only introduced in Rhineland-Palatinate and in Saarland, but also in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. There, the officials check the borders to Belgium and the Netherlands, while further controls to Luxembourg and Denmark will follow. The measures serve to combat irregular migration and should initially apply for six months, according to Faeser. Despite the long queues at the borders, she announced that the controls should be designed "smart" and randomly in order not to disturb the pendulum and travel, reported Zeit.de .

This discussion about border controls has already led to a wave of criticism. The Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Michael Ebling (SPD) expressed that there were no significant escape movements that would justify such a comprehensive control. In addition, neighboring countries such as Luxembourg defeated themselves against these measures because they could significantly burden the exchange and mobility of the commuters. Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden also announced resistance by calling for an intervention by the EU Commission, while n-tv.de Calculated for European integration.