Border controls on the German-Polish border: Solutions wanted!

Border controls on the German-Polish border: Solutions wanted!

Görlitz, Deutschland - The Situation on the German-Polish border is currently causing a conversation. Since Monday, July 7, 2025, controls have been carried out at 52 border crossing points, in response to the increased controls in Germany that have existed for eight weeks. This measure is intended to counteract illegal entry. A Polish border policeman, for example, carries out the necessary controls on Autobahn 4 shortly after the border crossing, which on average use less than a minute. Despite initial fears for backlogs, the German control point near Ludwigsdorf remained comparatively quiet, while no significant traffic jams were recorded at the city bridge in Görlitz. A cross -border line bus is not stopped, which facilitates commuting traffic.

But what is behind these controls? Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the measures as a necessary "symmetry" in response to German border controls. However, many Polish employees who work regularly in Germany have already been confronted with longer waiting times Süddeutsche.de . One reason for the controls is also multicultural movements that simply do not suffer. In May this year there were 451 cases of illegal entry in Saxony. The federal police had to reject 3,777 people at the border between September 2024 and April 2025. The idea of a "ping pong effect" is particularly worrying, in which people are rejected at both checkpoints.

The consequences for the border region

The controls not only have an impact on migrants, but also on everyday life in the border region. The police union pointed out that the smugglers use more complicated routes to continue their business. Andreas Roßkopf, a representative of the union, stated that this tightening is directly related to the increased monitoring of the EU external borders. This leads to a decline in asylum applications by about 40 percent compared to the previous year Tagesschau.de .

The economic effects are also not to be neglected. In the city of Slubice, which bordered on the border with Germany, restaurant owners report on a decline in customer numbers and the associated loss of sales. The mayors of the border regions also doubt the expediency of the controls, while the Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser speaks for an extension of these measures, which were originally supposed to expire at the end of March 2025.

the look ahead

The cooperation between German and Polish border guards remains good, but joint stripes were exposed to joint controls. Mayor Octavian Ursu from Görlitz requires a joint solution to migration policy at European level and sees the ongoing controls as a signal for a united Europe. At the same time, however, care must be taken to ensure that existing European legislation is not violated on asylum law Saechsische.de .

The current situation shows that migration policy, which is discussed at both national and European level, is characterized by complex challenges. Only a common European strategy can possibly offer long -term solutions and at the same time take into account human rights.