Germany will reintroduce border controls from Monday in the fight against irregular migration and cross-border crime. On Sunday, the German Interior Minister said that the checks would be "targeted" to avoid traffic jams, which neighbouring countries were concerned about.
Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said on Sunday that the German police will carry out random checks, "flexibly and in accordance with current security requirements."
Faeser promises that the checks will be coordinated with neighbouring countries. The aim is for the checks to cause "as little inconvenience as possible" for people and companies in the border regions. She said there would be no long traffic jams, but did not rule out some inconvenience here and there. Travellers are urged to have their identity documents ready when crossing the border.
It is not yet known where on the German border the checks will take place on Monday. Germany has nine neighbouring countries, including Belgium.
Possible disruptions along Belgian border
The German border with Belgium is approximately 160 kilometres long, with the most important border crossings being Eynatten along the A3 motorway to Liège-Aachen, and Steinebruck along the E42 motorway towards Mainz.
The Belgian federal police confirmed on Sunday that there has been close contact with German colleagues in recent days about possible border checks. They could not say where and when exactly they will take place, but they are taking possible traffic disruptions into account.
The Belgian police also emphasised that the Belgian authorities will not carry out checks, only the German ones.
The Danish police are already warning of traffic jams from Monday due to the German border checks. Road works are taking place at the border crossing on the E45 motorway between Denmark and Germany, which means that all traffic will have to use one lane. These works are expected to last until November at least.
