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IMMIGRATION

Will Germany introduce border controls with Poland?

During a visit to Poland on Tuesday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser addressed how Germany could address the rising number of asylum seekers coming into the country.

German Polish border crossing
Cars at a German-Polish border crossing in Swinemünde, Poland. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Stefan Sauer

In the debate on how to deal with rising refugee numbers and ease pressure on local authorities, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) gave a strong “Nein” when asked about whether there would be permanently stationed border controls along the German-Polish border. 

However, Germany is set to deploy “several hundred” more police officers there in the near future, Faeser announced during a visit to the Polish border town of Świecko.

READ ALSO: Will Germany introduce tighter border controls?

This step would help stymie the influx of unchecked migration more than stationary border controls, she said, adding that the close relationship between Germany and Poland would be “massively disrupted” by such controls.

At the border with the Czech Republic, high migration figures have been reduced in recent months through a greater police presence, rather than stationary border controls such as those which already exist in Austria, said Faeser. 

Call for stricter controls

However, politicians from the centre-right CDU, including the interior ministers of Brandenburg and Saxony, Michael Stübgen and Armin Schuster, had recently called for firm controls at the border with Poland, pointing out the high influx of asylum seekers coming into their respective states from the neighbouring country. 

According to a spokesman for the coordinator of the Polish intelligence services, Stanislaw Zaryn, Poland’s Border Guard has recorded more than 10,000 attempted ‘irregular’ border crossings at the border with Belarus since the beginning of the year and many who cross in such a way continue on to Germany. 

By comparison, 15,700 such attempts were registered in all of 2022. On Monday alone, Poland’s border guards registered 67 attempted border crossings.

According to data from the European statistics authority last week, more than 40 percent more initial applications for asylum were filed in the European Union (EU) at the beginning of the year than a year ago. 

In Germany, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) registered 110,516 asylum applications in the first four months of the year, or 78 percent more than in the previous year. Most of the applicants came from Syria and Afghanistan.

READ ALSO: Germany sees spike in asylum applications from Russian citizens

At the refugee summit on May 10th, the federal and state governments agreed to introduce stationary controls like those at the border with Austria, and at other German borders with neighbouring countries “depending on the situation”.

Regional leaders have long been demanding more help and money to cope with the new arrivals, with many being forced to build temporary shelters.

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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

Foreigners in Germany are waiting on tenterhooks for the introduction of the new dual nationality law on Thursday - but the centre-right CDU and CSU say they would overturn the reform if re-elected next year.

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

“The CDU and CSU will reverse this unsuccessful reform,” Alexander Throm (CDU), spokesperson on domestic policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told DPA on Tuesday.

“Dual citizenship must remain the exception and be limited to countries that share our values.”

Throm also criticised the new citizenship law for reducing the amount of time foreigners need to live in the country before naturalising as Germans, describing the new residence requirements as “far too short”.

“After five or even three years, it is not yet possible to determine with certainty whether integration has been successful in the long term,” he stated.

“The recent caliphate demonstrations and the rampant Islamist extremism, often by people with German passports, must be a wake-up call for us all.”

READ ALSO: Which foreign residents are likely to become German after citizenship law change?

Despite vociferous opposition, the alliance between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party (CSU) was powerless to stop the traffic-light coalition’s citizenship reform passing in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat earlier this year. 

The reform, which permits the holding of multiple passports, lowers residence requirements and removes language hurdles for certain groups, is set to come into force on June 27th. 

But with the CDU and CSU emerging as clear winners in the recent EU parliamentary elections and regularly landing on 30 percent or above in the polls, it’s possible that the party could be on course to re-enter government next year. 

In this situation, the centre-right parties have pledged to try and undo what senior CDU politicians have described as a “dangerous” reform.

“It is not unusual for successive governments to reverse decisions made by the previous government,” Andrea Lindholz, the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said in a recent response to a question

“We will maintain our position on this and will continue to strive for a corresponding change.”

READ ALSO: What are citizenship offices around Germany doing to prepare for the new law?

Whether the CDU and CSU can secure enough votes at both state and federal elections to change the law in the future remains to be seen.

The parties may also have to compromise on their plans with any future coalition partner, such as the Greens, Social Democrats (SPD) or Free Democrats (FDP), all of whom support liberal immigration laws and the holding of multiple nationalities. 

‘Citizenship devaluation law’

The CDU and CSU parties, which form a centre-right alliance nicknamed the Union, have long been opposed to dual nationality in Germany.

During their years of governing in a so-called grand coalition with the centre-right Social Democrats (SPD), the parties had regularly made reforms of citizenship one of their red lines, citing the danger of hostile nations influencing Germany from within. 

In a recent parliamentary speech back in January, Throm had slammed the bill as a “citizenship devaluation law” and accused the government of trying to generate a new electorate to win votes.

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

In comments aimed primarily at Germany’s large Turkish diaspora, the CDU politician claimed that people who had lived in Germany for decades but not taken German citizenship had already chosen their old country over Germany.

The majority of Turks in Germany are also supporters of the authoritarian president Recep Erdogan, he argued.

Responding to the claims, FDP migration expert Ann-Veruschka Jurisch said the opposition was fuelling resentments against migrants by claiming the government was “squandering German citizenship”.

In fact, she argued, the reform has tightened up requirements by ensuring that people who claim benefits and cannot support themselves are unable to become German citizens.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Germany’s citizenship law reform

In addition, the B1 language requirements have only been softened in a few exceptional cases, for example to honour the lifetime achievements of the guest worker generation who had few opportunities when they arrived, Jurisch said. 

If foreigners have committed crimes, the authorities will be able to investigate whether these involved racist or anti-Semitic motives before citizenship is granted, she added. 

With reporting by DPA

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