Poland
criticizes Germany’s plan for tougher border controls
Just days
before his debut visit to Warsaw, Chancellor-designate Friedrich Merz already
hit a diplomatic snag.
Jan
Tombinski
May 2, 2025
5:10 pm CET
By Hans von
der Burchard and Nette Nöstlinger
BERLIN —
Poland’s top diplomat in Berlin has criticized the incoming German government’s
plans to tighten border controls just days before the new regime is set to take
office.
“The current
controls at the German-Polish border are already a problem for daily border
traffic and the functioning of the EU internal market,” Poland’s chief diplomat
in Berlin, Jan Tombiński, told POLITICO’s Berlin Playbook. “We therefore do not
want to see a tightening of border controls.”
The
conservatives of chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz and his Cabinet, who are set
to take power in Berlin next Tuesday in a coalition government with the
center-left Social Democratic Party, have long promised a tougher stance on
migration in order to win back voters on the right. Merz vowed to introduce
stricter border checks on his first day in office and to reject illegal
crossings, including of asylum-seekers.
“Anyone who
tries to enter Germany illegally must expect to be stopped at the German border
from May 6,” Thorsten Frei, the incoming head of the Chancellery, a powerful
role akin to a chief of staff, reinforced earlier this week.
When asked
whether Poland would accept the return of asylum-seekers, Tombiński emphasized
that Warsaw stands by its “obligations under EU legislation.” He explained that
this includes the reform of the Common European Asylum System. Under the CEAS,
countries may not reject asylum-seekers at their internal borders.
A
spokesperson for the Austrian interior ministry told POLITICO, “We are
confident that the actions of the German authorities at the EU’s internal
borders are in line with the legal system.” The spokesperson added: “The
European Court of Justice has ruled that informal returns are not legally
possible when an application for asylum is made.”
Merz — whose
top campaign promises also included pledges to improve relations with Germany’s
neighbors (including Poland), and to take a more proactive position on the
European stage — is set to travel to Warsaw on Wednesday, where he’ll have to
defend his tough border policy.
“Our aim is
to achieve more at the European level, too. I am already holding talks with
European partners on this,” Alexander Dobrindt, the incoming interior minister,
said in an interview Thursday, without naming specific countries. “CEAS is
going in the right direction, but is too slow … We want to achieve more,” he
added.
In order to
conduct stricter border controls without overburdening its work force, the
German police would need at least 20,000 more staff members, according to the
chief of the country’s police union, Jochen Kopelke.
“We do not
consider comprehensive controls and returns at German borders to be
realistically feasible,” he added, in light of Germany’s 3,700-plus kilometers
of borders.
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