A dozen Schengen states now systematically monitor their national borders. Longer waiting times are possible when passing the posts, including from Switzerland.
Since Monday, Poland has been performing border controls, passages to Lithuania and Germany again. This partly in reaction to the controls that Germany has itself introduced at its border with Poland. Although the two governments point out that vacationers and tens of thousands of border workers should not suffer from it, longer waiting times have been in several border posts.
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Border controls are a trend throughout Europe. Poland is already the twelfth Schengen state to systematically control its borders – at least for a determined period. In addition to Poland and Germany, France, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Slovakia are currently carrying out border controls. And the situation can change quickly. Spain, for example, ceased to monitor borders last week, while Belgium announced that it would intensify its own controls during the summer.
![Border controls in the Schengen area [SRF]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== "Border controls in the Schengen area [SRF]")
Most states invoke as reason the risks to security, the fight against terrorism and the containment of migration. Admittedly, the Schengen code allows states to temporarily reintroduce controls to the interior borders, for example in the event of concrete danger for internal security. But these controls should be limited in time and only be used in the last use.
The Schengen states, however, seem less and less to care. Germany, for example, has already controlled the border with Switzerland for almost two years and has even introduced border controls throughout the territory. The freedom to travel to Europe, the initial idea of ​​the Schengen agreement, is thus increasingly put under pressure.
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Reactions in Switzerland
The Federal Councilor Beat Jans has already spoke on several occasions on several occasions on border controls reintroduced everywhere, especially on those of Germany on the border with Switzerland, which were still reinforced in May. That Germany no longer respects international agreements is unacceptable to Switzerland, said the minister in the program Samstagsrundschau de SRF.
Regarding the training of traffic jams, we have not noticed any changes since the change of practice announced by Germany
The situation on the Germano-Swiss border has not worsened in recent weeks. At the request of SRF, the Federal Office of Customs and Border Safety (OFDF) replied: “With regard to the training of traffic jams, we have not noticed any changes since the change of practice announced by Germany, the situation presents itself as in recent months.”
The OFDF recommends that travelers learn beforehand about the conditions for entry into the different countries. In border posts with the neighboring countries of Switzerland, “there should currently be any waiting time on the whole”. On the other hand, you should expect possibly longer waiting times on the German-Polish border as well as at the entrance to Germany from Austria or the Czech Republic.
Philipp Schrämmli (SRF)/ain
