Schengen under siege: Germany’s border checks extended

Germany’s decision to prolong internal border checks within the EU has triggered debate over their legality, effectiveness, and underlying motives. While Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government argues the move is necessary to curb irregular migration and enhance national security, experts say the policy is more about domestic politics than solving Europe’s migration challenges.

“First of all, it’s about domestic politics, to send a signal that the new German government is doing things differently,” Raphael Bossong of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) told Anadolu. “Maybe it’s also a message to the world, other countries, and potential migrants that Germany is not welcoming anymore.”

Bossong emphasised that Merz’s conservative-led coalition is focused on signalling strength to voters rather than crafting measures that will have a meaningful operational impact, Anadolu writes.

Merz campaigned on tightening migration controls amid the growing popularity of far-right parties that have long weaponised migration concerns. After taking office in May, he swiftly ordered comprehensive border checks, and this week, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed the controls will be extended beyond their initial September deadline.

Bossong, however, questioned the effectiveness of the policy. The controls, he explained, mostly consist of random checks on major highways and crossing points, leaving vast stretches of forested border terrain open to smugglers.

According to him, the measures raise legal questions too. “In fact, there has been a long debate in the German coalition about these internal border controls, which are actually not legal under EU law,” he said. The new practice of returning asylum seekers at the border, he added, is also a clear violation of EU regulations.

“It is just a question of who has the courage to sue Germany for that? Some asylum seekers have already done that, but the European Commission and other EU member states are hesitant. But this doesn’t mean that they are just okay,” he noted.

Government insists measures are temporary

Berlin has dismissed criticism, insisting the restrictions are only in place until the EU fully implements its new migration and asylum pact next year and strengthens external border security.

Germany hosts some 3.5 million refugees, mainly from Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan. Between May and August, German authorities turned away more than 10,000 irregular migrants, including 550 asylum seekers, according to official figures.

Conservatives argue that asylum seekers must register in the first EU state they enter – such as Greece or Italy – in line with EU rules. The bloc’s migration pact envisions distributing accepted asylum seekers across member states.