“We want to further reduce irregular migration. To this end, we are now taking further steps that go beyond the comprehensive measures currently in place,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said at a news conference on Monday.

“Until we achieve strong protection of the EU’s external borders with the new Common European Asylum System, we need to strengthen controls at our national borders. These controls will also enable effective refoulement,” she adds.

Temporary border controls will be set up at the land borders with France, Luxembourgh, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark for a period of six months.

The same measures are already in place on the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.

Europe’s Schengen area allows for free travel between member countries. However, member states are allowed to introduce border checks if they feel there is a threat to public policy or internal security. Reintroducing internal border control should only be used as a last resort measure.

Faeser states that 30,000 people were turned away since Germany implemented partial border controls in 2023. She adds that this number will increase now that the border controls are extended to the remaining borders.

Migration policy as key point of political tension

The order comes as the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces pressure to take a tougher stance on irregular migration, as Germany faced a surge of refugees arriving in recent years.

The issue of migration has been a key political talking-point. Germany’s far-right party AfD, who carry a clear anti-immigration message, gained popularity and won its first state election earlier this month in Thuringia.

The announcement on border controls comes a day before the government coalition and the main opposition are set to discuss Germany’s migration policy. It is still unclear whether the CDU/CSU opposition will take part in the talks.

The leader of the group, Friedrich Merz, has demanded the government to clearly state its intention before the new round of talks take place.

“The Federal Minister of the Interior, the Federal Government, has correctly notified Brussels of border controls at all of Germany`s external borders. That is correct. But it is not yet clear whether this means that there will be comprehensive and not limited refoulement.”

Merz adds that they will not accept any relativization or a limited method of rejection. “If the Federal Government wants us to go down this path together, then it will only work if we really do carry out comprehensive refoulement at Germany`s external borders.”