Minister urges an end to border controls with Poland

They have been carried out since October 2023 with the aim of curbing irregular migration. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) extended border controls beyond March 15 for an initial six months.

Minister: Controls inhibit development in border regions

According to a statement, Crumbach said open borders within the EU were an outstanding achievement of the European unification process. “The repeatedly extended internal border controls of many member states endanger this achievement, are problematic under European law and affect the freedom of movement of citizens.” They significantly inhibited the regional and economic development of the border regions.

“Therefore, with the implementation of the reform of the Common European Asylum System in June 2026, it is time to phase out border controls at the internal borders by the summer at the latest – especially since the number of asylum applications has already fallen sharply since 2023,” said the minister.

The Interior Minister also hopes for an end to controls

Interior Minister René Wilke (SPD) had previously said: “The extension was to be expected since the new CEAS regulations with protection of the EU’s external borders will only come into effect in the middle of the year. This is my hope and expectation that internal border controls will then become unnecessary again because they can be replaced by a better, European system.”

Dobrindt’s department: Border controls still necessary

A spokesman for Dobrindt said on Monday: “These border controls are still necessary for current migration and security policy reasons.” The Federal Minister of the Interior extended and intensified the temporary controls that must be reported to the European Commission. After taking office in May, he also ordered that people who wanted to apply for asylum in Germany should also be turned back at the internal borders.

Fewer asylum applications in 2025

Fewer and fewer people are applying for asylum in Germany. According to a statement from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the number of initial applications was 113,236 in 2025. In the previous year there were 229,751 applications.

Following the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), procedures in which people seeking protection have already applied for asylum in another member state are to be accelerated. Transfers to the state responsible for the respective procedure should also be possible for longer, for example if someone goes into hiding in the meantime. There should be asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders for people from countries of origin whose citizens are rarely recognized as needing protection in Europe.

Dismantling of border controls in the Schengen area agreed

Border controls are not actually planned in the Schengen area. The justification for the introduction was to curb irregular migration and protect against Islamist terrorists and cross-border crime.

On June 14, 1985, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed in Schengen to gradually reduce border controls. Today, 29 countries with around 420 million inhabitants belong to the so-called Schengen area. The controls reintroduced at all German borders are met with criticism – including in the Brandenburg border region with Poland.