In light of the heightened border controls and refusals at Germany’s borders, the SPD-Fraktion’s Interior expert, Lars Castellucci, warns of potential risks associated with these police measures. Castellucci, speaking to the newspapers of the Funke-Mediengruppe (Monday editions), states that with intensified border controls and uncoordinated refusals, including those of asylum seekers, there is a risk that European neighbors will leave the common course of the Asylum Reform in Europe and opt for national measures. He emphasizes that Germany can only be successful in migration “by working together with our neighbors.” However, Castellucci remains committed to the goal of “further reducing irregular migration” but insists on “joint controls with our neighbors.”
On the other hand, the Interior expert of the Union in the Bundestag, Alexander Throm (CDU), highlights that the border controls are “effective.” Throm tells the Funke newspapers: “Germany is no longer the magnet for migration in Europe. A signal of a more restrictive migration policy in Germany is something that our European neighbors have hoped for for many years.”
Following his appointment, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has ordered the intensification of border controls. Additionally, he has instructed that asylum seekers can also be refused at the border – as stipulated in the Union and SPD coalition agreement, in consultation with the country’s European neighbors.