One of Brexit’s biggest critics has thrown a spanner in the works for one of the European Union’s most crucial policies. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced his country will begin temporary controls along its borders with Germany and Lithuania in a fresh blow to the Schengen agreement which allows the free movement of people across 29 nations.
It comes amid rising concerns over illegal immigration in the Schengen area which last month marked its 40th anniversary. A number of nations in Europe’s free travel zone — including France, Spain and Italy — have moved to reintroduce border controls. Mr Tusk said the checks at Poland’s borders with Lithuania and Germany would begin from Monday following a meeting with the Polish border guard on Tuesday.
Mr Tusk said the move is in response to border restrictions taken by Germany to deter asylum-seekers.
According to Polish state broadcaster TVP, he claimed Germany “refuses to allow migrants to enter its territory”.
“The change in practice introduced tensions and a sense of asymmetry.”
New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a pillar of his election campaign and after taking office in May, Germany stationed more police at the border and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter would be turned away.
Previously, Mr Merz’s predecessor in February had extended German border checks by six months in a bid to cut down on the number of migrants arriving in the country.
Mr Tusk said he had discussed the issue with the German Chancellor, “informing him that the patient position of Poland is slowly being exhausted.
Mr Merz confirmed Berlin officials were in touch with Warsaw to keep Germany’s border controls with Poland “as low as possible”.
He denied reports from the Polish media that Germany was returning migrants, who had arrived in Germany, to Poland.
The German chancellor said: “We naturally want to preserve the Schengen area, but freedom of movement in the Schengen area will only work in the long term if it is not abused by those who promote irregular migration, in particular by smuggling migrants.”
Regarding the controls at the border with Lithuania, Mr Tusk told TVP: “The stream of illegal migration organised by Russia and Belarus goes through Belarus [to] Latvia and Lithuania, with which Poland has an open border.”
The Schengen area also extends to non-EU members such as Switzerland and Iceland.
It allows citizens of most member states to travel easily across borders for work and pleasure.
The scheme guarantees the free movement of more than 450 million EU citizens.
