KEHL, Germany (AP) — Germany began random checks Monday at its borders with five Western European countries in an effort to crack down on illegal migration, expanding a system of controls already in place at four other borders.
Police checks began Monday morning at the borders with France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark and are expected to last six months. Germany has been carrying out checks since last year at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.
Germany, a member state of the European Union, announced last week that it would expand border controls to all nine of its borders this week as part of an effort to tackle illegal migration and crime following recent extremist attacks.
Last month, three people were killed in a knife attack attributed to a Syrian asylum seeker in Solingen. The suspect claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State. In June, a knife attack attributed to an Afghan immigrant killed a police officer and injured four others.
The border checks are a test of European unity, as some see them as a move away from the spirit of the EU’s free travel arrangement, known as Schengen. The freedom of Europeans to travel freely across borders for work and pleasure is one of the EU’s most cherished benefits.
According to the EU, member states may temporarily reintroduce controls at the EU’s so-called internal borders in the event of a serious threat, such as a threat to internal security. But it also says that border controls should only be used as a last resort in exceptional situations and should have a time limit.
Such restrictions are often imposed during major sporting events, such as the recent Olympic Games in Paris and the European Football Championship.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular coalition government has imposed border controls to crack down on illegal immigration after the far-right performed well in two recent state elections in eastern Germany. Another is scheduled for next Sunday in Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin.
