Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) plans to tighten border controls. The contingent of the Federal Security Police at the border is apparently doubled to twelve hundred units, with additional mobile control and monitoring units to be added soon, according to a report in the “Spiegel” on Wednesday. Additionally, officers at border inspections will in the future work twelve-hour shifts. This would significantly strengthen the existing force of 11,000 officers and the number of inspection points – currently around 50 – could be increased accordingly.
The reinforcement is apparently set to begin with the fact that already stationed federal police officers will not be withdrawn and the replacement personnel will be added as extra staff. The first officers to be affected will likely be those who are not being replaced. However, this will not be enough for a full inspection; there are too many border crossings along the country’s approximately 4,000-kilometer-long external border.