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New controls at German land borders can be seen as a reaction to the far-right party AfD’s electoral success rather than a response to recent terrorist attacks and could be dangerous for European cohesion, leading to a breakdown in the Schengen system, according to Christian Moos.
Christian Moos, a member of the SPD, is secretary general of Europa-Union Deutschland and the European Economic and Social Committee member.
German politics is on high alert following major electoral successes for far-right and populist parties in elections in two regions, Thuringia and Saxony, held on 1 September.
This is all too understandable because both federal states risk becoming ungovernable. In Thuringia, a majority of the electorate voted for these parties- 32.8% for the far-right Alternative for Germany AfD, and 15.8% for the BSW, an electoral alliance centred on and named after the former die-hard communist Sahra Wagenknecht, who created the party only last year.
In Saxony, the picture is not much different. Some 31.9% voted for the AfD and 11.8% for the BSW. Both extremist parties question the current political system, the European Union, NATO, and the values on which both were founded.
On 22 September, the people of Brandenburg will also be called to the ballot boxes—one of the main concerns of the electorate there – irregular migration.
Today, the federal government and the parties that form it, social democrats (SPD), Greens and liberals (FDP), in addition to the moderately conservative Christian-democratic opposition (CDU) are coming together to respond to a “national emergency” identified by CDU opposition leader Friedrich Merz.
They want to stop irregular migration. The proposals and demands on the table worry us, the German section of the European federalists.
Therefore, the Europa-Union Germany (EUD) warned yesterday in a statement from its presidency about the consequences of rejecting refugees already registered in other EU countries at Germany’s borders. But events come thick and fast.
Yesterday (9 September), in the late afternoon, social democratic Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser announced controls at all German land borders. These are intended to take effect within a week.
Undoubtedly, the willingness of a large majority of the population to accept many more refugees is exhausted after years of high numbers of irregular migration. Above all, municipalities and essential service facilities are reaching their capacity limits. The municipal umbrella associations, which are not xenophobic institutions but supporting pillars of German democracy, have reported that many cities and municipalities are now overwhelmed and cannot cope with the influx, let alone enable good integration prospects.
However, it seems that the border controls the minister announced are primarily a reaction to the electoral success of the far-right party AfD, which is run in part by outright fascists. The border controls are only partially a response to the shocking deadly terrorist attacks committed by Islamists, refugees from Afghanistan and Syria, in recent weeks and months in the cities of Mannheim and Solingen.
In our presidency statement, we warn that systematic rejections of refugees already registered in other EU countries at the German borders, combined with comprehensive border controls, would be a unilateral action dangerous for European cohesion. The Dublin system has never worked and has always lacked solidarity. They would lead our European partners more than possibly before to refrain from registering migrants. They do not contribute to solving the issue of high numbers of irregular migrants in Germany but rather constitute a political explosive for Europe.
Our main concern is the controls at our internal borders. EUD doubts that the stationary or massive use of mobile border controls is compatible with the Schengen Code. Indeed, the free movement of people and goods with Germany’s neighbours within the EU would be significantly affected, thus endangering the entire Schengen system. It is the external borders of our Union that must be effectively protected.
The EUD wants migration to be regulated in a European manner and irregular immigration curbed in a spirit of solidarity. The protection of the external borders not of Germany but of the European Union is essential. Frontex, with proper funding and support from the Member States, can and must play its role.
At the same time, assessing whether asylum can be claimed, a refugee status based on the Geneva Refugee Convention or subsidiary protection granted must be carried out with full respect for international law and human rights at the European external borders. Otherwise, not only Schengen but also the European Union itself is at risk. The extremists want us to be afraid. They will only get stronger if the Democrats fall into their trap and adopt their policies.
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