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Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended the move, stating it has effectively reduced asylum applications and illegal crossings.
ADVERTISEMENTGermany’s outgoing government has extended border controls by six months in a bid to curb irregular migration, a key issue in the lead-up to the country’s federal election on 23 February.Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed on Wednesday that his administration had notified the European Commission of the extension, which will now remain in place until 15 September.”With the border controls, we are pushing irregular migration down successfully. The figures prove this,” Scholz stated.Since implementing the measures last autumn, German authorities have turned back 47,000 people at its borders, recorded a one-third decrease in asylum applications, and arrested 1,900 suspected smugglers.Germany had already enforced border checks with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland before expanding them in September to cover all remaining frontiers with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark.The European Union’s Schengen zone allows visa-free travel across most member states, with Switzerland also participating despite not being an EU member.However, the EU permits temporary border controls in cases of serious security threats, provided they are a last resort and limited in duration.Election tensions over border policyMigration has emerged as a central issue in Germany’s election campaign, with opposition leader Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner in the race, calling for even stricter measures.Merz has pledged that if he becomes chancellor, he will mandate permanent border controls and block all illegal entries “without exception,” arguing that current EU regulations are “recognisably dysfunctional” and that Germany must prioritise national law.Scholz has criticised Merz’s stance, insisting that such a policy would be incompatible with both German and EU law and risk undermining European unity.As the election approaches, the debate over border control continues to shape Germany’s political landscape, with migration policies set to be a defining issue for the next government.
