Horst Seehofer insists on sharp border guards at a police congress. There are “huge border crossings,” says the Interior Minister.
- Interior Minister Horst Seehofer gave a keynote speech on the topic of border protection at a police congress in Berlin.
- Seehofer spoke out for increased attention to asylum policy in the EU.
- At the same time, he announced that Germany will continue to carry out border controls if necessary.
Berlin - Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU) wants to hold onto the border controls introduced last November when entering Germany. At the European Police Congress in Berlin on Tuesday, the minister presented the results of the border controls : "A few hundred people who had been banned from entering the country and twice the number of people who were wanted with an arrest warrant" had gone online on the border officials. This is an order of magnitude, "you don't believe it," said Seehofer.
Horst Seehofer warns: "Violent border crossings"
One finding from the stronger border surveillance is "that there is a lot of border crossing here," said Seehofer. At the police congress, the minister again called for effective protection of the EU's external borders . If the EU could not do this, Germany would act at the national level .
"As long as this is not guaranteed at the external borders of Europe and Schengens, we have to look carefully at the borders to see who is coming to the Federal Republic of Germany for what reasons," said Seehofer. Otherwise the borders would become a "gateway for people who are up to something completely different from having protection in Germany".
Migration: Seehofer calls for a closer look at asylum policy - "Don't even get an answer to letters"
Seehofer also wants to make asylum policy and data exchange between the security authorities a priority of the German EU Council Presidency . He called on the new EU Commission to give border protection and a common asylum policy as much importance as climate protection. "I have a lot of understanding for the Green Deal and I also agree with it," he said. "But the common European asylum policy is at least of equal importance for the future of Europe."
Large deficits are particularly noticeable in the protection of external borders and in the application of the so-called Dublin rules. The Dublin procedure for taking back asylum seekers does not work, "we don't even get an answer to our letters from most countries," said the Interior Minister. The Dublin system determines which EU member state is responsible for the application of an asylum seeker - usually the state in which it was first registered by the authorities. Germany will take over the EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2020.
But "mother of all problems"? Seehofer sees refugee movement as a reason for "divisions" and strength of "extreme parties"
The large influx of refugees in 2015 has shown that disorderly migration in Europe leads to "divisions, polarizations and the blossoming of extreme parties," said Seehofer. In view of the continuing strong migration pressure, "we have to prevent 2015 from happening again".
Seehofer tightened controls at German borders in November. At the time, the specific reason was the re-entry of the clan chief Ibrahim Miri from Lebanon.
AFP / dpa / fn