Seehofer wants to stop illegal immigration from Belarus

aGiven the increasing number of refugees en route to Germany via Belarus and Poland, the federal government is examining further steps. “This is a situation that we are closely monitoring,” government spokesman Stefan Seibert said in Berlin on Monday. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) will present “options of action” to cabinet on Wednesday. Seibert referred, among other things, to the “enhanced veil discovery”.

“Further measures to prevent illegal migration are currently being coordinated,” said a spokesman for the federal Interior Ministry. She didn’t want to give details. According to him, about 4,500 people have crossed the Polish-German border without entry permits since August.

Given the situation, the Federal Police Union had previously called for temporary border controls to react to the situation. Seibert clarified that the original stance of the federal government, which has not yet provided for border closures in the European Schengen area, has not changed.

Seibert also pointed out that the situation at the Polish-German border “in no way” could be compared to the situation during the refugee crisis of 2015. However, a government spokesman insisted that the federal government should respond to specific incidents at the border. A spokesman for Interior Minister Seehofer said earlier that ministers wanted to propose the measures at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The federal government and the governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland also accuse Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of bringing migrants and refugees from distressed areas to the EU’s outer borders in an organized manner. Lukashenko announced in late May that Minsk would no longer stop migrants from continuing to travel to the European Union – in response to stringent Western sanctions against his country.

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Police union seeks temporary control

Meanwhile, the president of the Federal Police Union, Heiko Tegatz, is pushing for the introduction of temporary controls on the border with Poland. Tegguts justified this with a health risk to federal police employees in a letter to Seehofer, as reported by Bild-Zeitung. The Police Union (GDP) does not believe in this idea at the moment.

“For several months, the number of apprehensions has grown almost explosively,” the newspaper said, quoting the letter from the Federal Police Union. Only with the introduction of temporary border controls can the federal government prevent a “collapse” at borders as of 2015. Tegutz continued: “Our allies are also exposed to a significant health risk, as SARS COV-2 infection is still very high, especially in the countries of origin of migrants (Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, etc.) There are more in Only very rarely is it recorded by the authorities.”

Normal hygiene rules in Germany and Europe will not be followed during smuggling. The President of the Union suggested: the EU should withdraw take-off and landing permits from such airlines within the EU and thus create economic pressure.”

“We are no longer ready to see that there are even companies like airlines that make money with it,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) said in a meeting with counterparts in Luxembourg on Monday. You need sanctions with which you can make it clear that you are not ready to accept it any more.

“We currently see no reason for border control”

Maas once again personally made serious allegations against the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko. “We in Europe are faced with the fact that Lukashenko uses refugees as a means to put pressure on European states,” he said. He is “nothing more than the head of a state smuggling gang”.

Lithuania’s Interior Minister Agne Bilotite announced an increase in troops to support border guards – 64 additional troops to be deployed every day. “We have to respond and be prepared for the worst-case scenario,” Billotite said in a statement. Defense Minister Arvidas Anusukas insisted that the Lithuanian poor had provided support “in the context of hybrid aggression” and would continue to do so.

Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stubgen (CDU) expressed concern about the proposal for temporary border controls on the German-Polish border. “Whether the capability of the federal police is sufficient to control the border of several hundred kilometers with Poland and whether the effort is worthwhile can only be decided by the federal government,” Stubgen told the German Press Agency on Monday. He doubted that a temporary investigation would solve the problem. He warned of a “rising spiral” at the border.

“Currently we see no reason for border control,” said Andreas Roskoff, president of the Federal Police District of the Police Union (GDP) of the DPA. “Yes, there should be a response, but we like to intensify the searches at the border,” he said. The current situation in terms of the number of asylum seekers cannot be compared with the situation in autumn 2015.