German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is actively engaged in discussions with Poland and the Czech Republic regarding the potential implementation of “additional border police measures,” according to her spokesman’s announcement on Monday.

Over the weekend, preliminary discussions on this matter took place, involving the Czech interior minister and senior civil servants from the Polish side. Faeser is expected to engage in further discussions with her Polish counterpart in the near future, even before the upcoming EU interior ministers’ meeting scheduled for this Thursday. The objective is to swiftly put additional measures in place.

The key focus of these talks revolves around establishing a German police presence across the entire border area with Poland and the Czech Republic. This presence would enable effective control, including the possibility of extending control to the other side of the border, akin to the joint border police measures currently employed between Germany and Switzerland.

The primary aim of these discussions is to enhance efforts to combat people-smuggling activities. However, it is emphasized that individuals cannot simply be turned away at the border. If individuals seek asylum, their applications must be duly examined and processed.

In an interview with Die Welt newspaper on Sunday, Minister Faeser expressed her view that short-term fixed border checks with Poland and the Czech Republic could be a viable option. Nonetheless, she underscored the continued importance of safeguarding the EU’s external borders as a fundamental priority.

These discussions come against the backdrop of ongoing challenges related to border security and migration within the European Union. Germany’s engagement with its neighbors, Poland and the Czech Republic, reflects a concerted effort to address these issues collaboratively while upholding the principles of border control and asylum rights within the EU framework. The outcome of these talks and any resulting measures will be closely watched as they could have broader implications for border security policies across the European Union.

Article by Prague Forum