Overview

• Poland launched temporary spot checks on buses, minibuses, multi-occupant cars and vehicles with tinted windows at its German border crossings on July 7, deploying 5,000 soldiers and military police through August 5.
• Germany’s border controls, intensified since October 2023 and reinforced in May to return irregular entrants, have recorded nearly 1,300 immediate returns at the Polish frontier.
• Persistent traffic standstills on the A 12 between Frankfurt (Oder) and Świecko have prompted the Bundespolizei to study structural changes to relieve bottlenecks.
• Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak has linked Warsaw’s measures to Berlin ending its checks, while critics in both countries press for coordinated border operations.
• Postponed EU asylum reforms under the upcoming GEAS framework mean current bilateral controls operate in legal uncertainty pending a mid-2026 overhaul.