Gov't To Impose Controls On All Land Borders-Interior Min

Reuters reporting that according to its sources, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) is set to announce the introduction of temporary controls on all land borders. Since 2023, there have been checks in place on Germany's borders with Poland, Czechia and Switzerland, but will now be extended to its frontiers with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Austria. The government source claims the restrictions are intended to counter illegal immigration and protect the population from Islamist extremist attacks.

• Such restrictions deal a significant blow to the Schengen area, the system of checkless borders intended to facilitate easy travel and trade between its participating nations (most of which are EU members, but Switzerland and Norway are not).
• The German gov't, formed by the centre-left Social Democrats, environmentalist Greens and pro-business liberal Free Democrats has engaged in talks with the main opposition centre-right Christian Democratic Union in an effort to find agreement on countering immigration. The strong performance of anti-immigrant parties of the far-right (Alternative for Germany) and far-left (Sara Waganknecht Alliance) in the 1 Sep Saxony and Thuringia state elections has been seen to spur the action amid the heightened security threat following the deadly Islamist attack in Solingen in late August.
• It remains to be seen whether the restrictions, labeled as temporary, do prove to just be a stopgap measure or if they remain in place over the longer term as Germany heads towards an election year in 2025.