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The federal police check people entering the Czech-German border at the Schirnding border crossing in the Wunsiede district
Photo: Matthias Balk / dpa
The stricter German entry rules at the borders with the Czech Republic and the Austrian state of Tyrol came into force on Sunday night - and are causing displeasure in the neighboring states and the European Union.
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides firmly rejected the closing of the EU's internal borders: "The fear of the mutations of the coronavirus is understandable, but the truth is that the virus cannot be stopped by closed borders," Kyriakides told the Augsburger Allgemeine «.
Only consistent vaccination and compliance with hygiene rules help against the mutants.
"I think it is wrong that we are going back to a Europe with closed borders as in March 2020," said the EU politician.
She called on the member states to do more to investigate the spread of the mutants with sequencing.
Otherwise the EU would be "blind" to the problem.
Since Sunday, stricter rules for entry from certain countries have been in force in Germany due to the spread of new virus variants.
Travelers were checked at stationary border controls.
The background is the classification of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Austrian state of Tyrol as "virus variant areas" by the federal government.
There are exceptions for medical staff, truck drivers and seasonal agricultural workers.
Entrants must show a negative corona test and a certificate from the employer.
According to the information, further exceptions for members of systemically important professional groups should be decided in Bavaria by Tuesday at the latest.
"Hardly feasible in practice"
Massive criticism of the new regulations comes from Slovakia: The Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok intervened with Germany's Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas against travel restrictions for truck drivers.
As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bratislava announced on its website on Saturday, it was about the requirement to present a corona test that is no more than 48 hours old at the border in order to be allowed to enter Germany.
"This measure will cause huge problems and our truck drivers can hardly be fulfilled in practice," Korcok told his German counterpart, according to his ministry.
Slovakia has therefore sent a diplomatic note to Berlin.
Because of the new German entry rules, Tyrol wants to control and throttle truck traffic from Italy in advance from Sunday in order to prevent extreme backlogs and a traffic collapse in the Inn Valley.
“We won't allow Tyrol to become Europe's parking lot.
For this reason, in coordination with the federal government, an ordinance is being issued that allows us to carry out checks at the burner, ”declared Governor Günther Platter and Regional Transport Minister Ingrid Felipe.
Auto industry fears delivery problems and plant closings
The German auto industry, in turn, fears that the controls will cause considerable delivery problems and that factories will be closed this Monday.
Due to the problems to be expected at the border crossings, automobile production will largely come to a standstill from Monday lunchtime, a spokesman for the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) announced on Sunday in Berlin.
"The plants in Ingolstadt, Regensburg, Dingolfing, Zwickau and Leipzig are the first to be affected." The automotive industry demands that until sufficient test capacities are built at the borders, but at least for the next four days, no medical test confirmation is required and, instead, self-rapid tests Allow drivers.
"We understand the energetic measures taken, but this new test obligation for truck drivers cannot be implemented at such short notice," said the VDA spokesman.
Söder: "That doesn't mean the end of Europe"
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer meanwhile defended the move and affirmed that strict controls would be carried out at the corresponding crossings in Bavaria and Saxony.
"Those who do not belong to one of the few exceptions cannot enter," said the CSU politician of the "Bild am Sonntag".
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) also defended the border controls.
"We have no other choice," he said on Saturday.
The fight against the pandemic does not stop at a border.
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has also rejected criticism of the tightened border controls.
This does not mean the end of free Europe, as some said, stressed Söder during a visit to the control point in Schirnding in Upper Franconia on Sunday.
"What nonsense." He was convinced that Europe would be strengthened if it succeeded in preventing a new wave now.
In the meantime, the controversial border controls have started quietly: the stricter German entry rules on the Bavarian border with the Czech Republic did not cause traffic jams or long waiting times on Sunday night.
"The situation is very calm at the moment," said a spokesman for the Passau border police on Sunday morning.
After all, it is Sunday traffic.
"On a weekday, when commuters try to enter, the situation will certainly be different," it said.
Then trucks are on the way again.
Since Sunday night, the federal police have also been checking air travelers from Austria and the Czech Republic at the largest German airport in Frankfurt.
A spokesman for the federal police said the officials checked whether the people entering via Frankfurt are German nationals, EU citizens or third-country nationals with a valid residence permit in Germany.
In addition, it will be checked whether the travelers can show a negative corona test and a digital entry registration.
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kik / dpa / AFP / Reuters
