The Foreign Office has issued new advice (Image: Witthaya Prasongsin via Getty Images)
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCO) has issued new travel advice for Brits heading to Germany, Poland, and Lithuania. These changes come as Poland reinstates temporary border controls with Germany and Lithuania amid rising concerns about illegal migration.
Far-right groups have put the spotlight on such issues, accusing Germany of fuelling the problem by channeling migrants into Poland.
As a result, Poland has launched a 30-day crackdown with more stringent border checks involving 52 points along the German frontier and 13 with Lithuania. These came into effect on Monday. With Germany previously tightening its own borders earlier in the year, British tourists now face additional scrutiny on their travels.
The FCO’s latest guidance cautions UK visitors about potential vehicle stops and documentation checks on the affected borders, reflecting the heightened security measures. Annually, roughly 3 million UK citizens visit Germany.
Travellers are urged to keep abreast of updates, with the official FCO website advising: “Poland has introduced border checks on the Germany/Poland border. Vehicles may be stopped and documentation checked.”
Guidance has been updated for three European countries (Image: PA)
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A warning mirrors this on the Lithuania travel page: “Poland has reintroduced border checks on the Lithuania/Poland border. Vehicles may be stopped and documentation checked.”
Travellers planning to visit Poland or Germany must be aware of the latest travel updates from the Foreign Office, reports the Liverpool Echo. The advice on the Polish travel page says: “From 7 July 2025, Polish border guards will implement controls at the German and Lithuanian borders for entry into Poland.
“Border checkpoints may close or impose restrictions at short notice and other disruption is possible.”
Lithuania gets about 83,000 Brit visitors a year. Poland sees about 600,000 – but Germany had around 5.3 million UK visitors in 2024.
The Germany government has changed its requirements (Image: fhm via Getty Images)
The FCO has also highlighted that Germany is currently enforcing border controls. It said: “A temporary reintroduction of border controls is currently in place at Germany’s land borders.”
These measures came into force on September 14 last year, as a statement from the Germany Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community explained.
An announcement said: “The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community today informed the European Commission that it has ordered the temporary reintroduction of border control at Germany’s land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark for six months, starting 16 September 2024.
“This means that border checks will be possible at all of Germany’s land borders starting on that date. The complete package of stationary and mobile border policing measures, including the possibility to refuse entry at the border, will be applied at all of Germany’s land borders as allowed by EU and national law.
“The grounds for ordering temporary border control are the need to limit irregular migration further and to protect Germany’s internal security. With regard to irregular migration, Germany’s overall burden must be taken into account, especially the limited capacity of municipalities to provide housing, education and integration services, after taking in 1.2 million refugees from the war in Ukraine and large numbers of asylum seekers in recent years.
“The current security environment is also crucial, particularly the need to protect against Islamist extremist terrorism and serious cross-border crime.”
Lithuania, Vilnius, view to the modern city of Vilnius with Europa Tower and Neris River in the foreground (Image: Westend61 via Getty Images)
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser issued a statement at the time, saying: “We are taking concrete action to reinforce our internal security, and we are taking a hard line against irregular migration. We are continuing to pursue this course.
“Until the new Common European Asylum System and other measures ensure strong protection for the EU’s external borders, we must also do more to control our national borders. These border control measures include effective refusals of entry at the border – more than 30,000 people have been denied entry at the land borders with Poland, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic just since October 2023.
“That is why we will expand our temporary border control to include all of Germany’s land borders, as I ordered today. My order is also intended to protect against the acute threat of Islamist extremist terrorism and serious cross-border crime. We are doing everything in our power to protect the people of our country against these threats. This includes the wide-ranging measures we are now taking.
“The Federal Police can now apply the complete package of stationary and mobile border policing measures along the entire German border. I am extremely grateful to the officers of the Federal Police for their strong commitment to policing the border. These efforts are only possible because we have increased funding and added a thousand officers each year, and we will continue to do so.
“Coordinating with our neighbouring countries remains our high priority, as does minimising the impacts on commuters and on daily life in the border regions as far as possible.”