German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser disapproved of the idea of stationary border controls at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic to curb illegal migration.
Local media reports that her opinion was stated in a letter from the Federal Interior Ministry to the two interior ministers of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony.
Jan Redmann, the conservative faction leader in Brandenburg, which borders Poland, criticised Faeser or her stance, saying in the state capital Potsdam that the assessment of the situation left him perplexed and angry.
The letter signed last week by Faeser, who is from the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), stated that a temporary reintroduction of border checks would require a serious threat to public order or internal security.
Such a measure always has the character of a last resort, she said.
At the German-Polish border, the numbers of people entering illegally have fluctuated, exceeding those at the border with Austria since the end of February, the Federal Interior Ministry said.
It added that at the German-Czech border in Saxony, unauthorised entries have been declining sharply since a peak in September 2022.
The Federal Interior Ministry further wrote that a temporary reintroduction of internal border controls at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic was not currently under consideration.
Such a measure would be one of the very last possible responses.
Brandenburg’s Interior Minister, Michael Stübgen, on the other hand, considers the rapid introduction of static checks at the border to Poland to be feasible in order to curb illegal entries.
He said last week that he hoped for a quick start around the beginning of June. (dpa/NAN)