Poland, Germany deepen row over asylum seekers as vigilantes patrol border
By David Crowe
London: Poland will impose stricter border controls with Germany on Monday in a deepening row over asylum seekers, highlighting the fractures in Europe over open borders that have allowed free movement for decades.
The move comes as political leaders warn against the rise of far-right vigilantes, who have begun patrolling the border to prevent asylum seekers moving between the two countries.
German federal police check cars arriving at the German-Polish border last September.Credit: Getty Images
Migration disputes are flaring in Europe as political leaders seek to calm voter unrest over economic pressures, while dealing with calls for policies to turn away refugees.
In one migration flashpoint, French police used knives on Friday to slash an inflatable boat holding more than a dozen asylum seekers on a beach in northern France, to stop it reaching Britain.
As France and Britain negotiate a shared policy to discourage arrivals, Poland and Germany are at odds over what to do with westbound asylum seekers crossing their shared border.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised a harder line on migration before he won power in February. Authorities have since stationed more police along the border to turn asylum seekers away.
Migrants run across the beach at first light last month to board small boats that had come to collect them in Gravelines, France, to cross the English Channel.Credit: Getty Images
Raising temperatures further, Poland claimed at the weekend that German officers brought an Afghan migrant to the border at night and sent him to the Polish side.
Polish interior ministry spokesman Jacek Dobrzynski said this was “unacceptable and intolerable” and justified the government decision to impose border controls.
Poland’s cabinet ministers decided on the tougher border checks last week and plan to begin the new regimen along the German border on Monday, while also applying them on the nearby border with Lithuania.
“We consider the temporary reintroduction of controls necessary to reduce the uncontrolled flows of migrants across the Polish-German border to a minimum,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.Credit: AP
Domestic political pressures are fuelling tensions over the issue. Tusk suffered a setback in Poland’s presidential election in June when his preferred candidate was defeated.
New president Karol Nawrocki is an admirer of US President Donald Trump and argues for tougher policies on migration.
Last month, when Germany announced border checks to turn away asylum seekers, Nawrocki responded by calling for stricter measures on the Polish side.
Ramping up the pressure, Nawrocki on Friday accused Tusk of allowing Germany to send undocumented migrants into Poland – turning the dispute into a question of national pride.
Migrants wait for a small boat to collect them from the beach in Gravelines, France, on Wednesday.Credit: Getty Images
Travellers have been free to cross internal borders for decades in the Schengen zone of 29 countries in Europe that agreed on free movement, a boon for visitors who can move around much of the continent without a visa.
The dispute between Germany and Poland does not change the visa-free travel for tourists, but it highlights the pressure on the Schengen pact when countries are at odds over asylum seekers.
Merz said on Tuesday that Germany wants to preserve the Schengen system, but this could work only if it was not abused by criminals who smuggle migrants.
“We know that the Polish government also wants to impose border controls with Lithuania in order to limit illegal border crossings from Lithuania to Poland,” Merz told a news conference.
German police check a tram arriving from France at the German-French border in Kehl, Germany, in September.Credit: Getty
“So, we have a common problem here that we want to solve together.”
Knut Abraham, the German government’s commissioner for Poland, was critical of the shift to border restrictions.
“The solution cannot lie in pushing migrants back and forth between Poland and Germany or in cementing border controls on both sides,” Die Welt newspaper quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, Britain and France are negotiating a means to discourage thousands of asylum seekers who travel to northern France in the hope of crossing the English Channel.
Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer meet in Albania in May.Credit: Getty
French President Emmanuel Macron travels to London on Tuesday for a three-day state visit that will include a welcome from King Charles and talks with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Macron and Starmer have been discussing an agreement dubbed “one in, one out” because it would allow Britain to send some asylum seekers back to France.
Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus oppose this approach, saying France is flouting European Union rules by striking the “readmission” deal.
UK government figures show 517 people crossed to England in eight boats on Friday, part of a pattern of daily arrivals over the past three years.
with Reuters
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