Overview
- Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt formally notified the EU Commission on Thursday that Germany seeks to extend stationary border checks for another six months, through mid‑March.
- The controls have been imposed on the German‑Polish frontier since October 2023 and officials say they helped cut irregular entries, a claim Dobrindt used to justify the new request.
- Brandenburg business representatives and the IHK Ostbrandenburg warn the checks cause long queues on routes like the A12, raise transport costs, and create an atmosphere of unwelcome in border towns.
- Brandenburg Social Minister René Wilke and other regional actors say the controls must remain temporary and should be lifted once the new Common European Asylum System (Geas), which moved asylum processing to EU external borders, proves operational.
- The EU Commission will monitor the measure and critics warn the extension risks reciprocal moves by neighbours such as Poland and could deepen local social and economic strains if it continues.