Overview
- Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt ordered a further six‑month continuation of internal land‑border checks beyond 15 March, keeping spot inspections in place at crossings with all nine neighboring countries.
- Travelers should expect possible delays and must carry identification, as the Bundesinnenministerium frames the move as part of a broader reordering of migration policy to protect security and curb irregular entries.
- Berlin’s notification to the European Commission fulfills the requirement that such time‑limited measures inside the Schengen area be declared and periodically renewed.
- Enforcement figures cited by authorities report 67,918 detected irregular entries and 46,426 refusals or pushbacks from September 2024 to December 2025, while first‑time asylum applications fell to 7,649 in January 2026, roughly half the level a year earlier.
- The policy remains contested as Dobrindt’s order enabling returns of people stating an intent to seek asylum faces legal challenges, including a Berlin court decision finding specific refusals unlawful, and critics warn of police strain—GdP reports millions of overtime hours—while Brandenburg’s interior minister urges an exit plan linked to upcoming EU asylum reforms.