Border controls | Major traffic jams feared at the border with Poland

Frankfurt/Oder. The German Police Union (GdP) fears major traffic jams during the holiday season as a result of German border controls with Poland. "They are unavoidable, because the checkpoints are not essentially full-scale checks, but rather transit checks, but they slow down traffic," said Andreas Roßkopf, GdP Chairman for Federal Police and Customs. He called on the federal government to implement more mobile checks.

Germany has been conducting random border checks with Poland since October 2023 to stop irregular migration. This is causing traffic disruptions in Poland. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) ordered more intensive border controls in May. Poland responded with its own controls, which began on July 7 and are initially scheduled to last until August 5. These controls are also causing traffic disruptions. On Thursday, a kilometer-long traffic jam formed on the A12 near Frankfurt (Oder).

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is apparently exploring a solution with the Federal Police to reduce traffic disruptions due to German checkpoints. Brandenburg's Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD) is proposing the introduction of a third lane on the A12. Brandenburg's Interior Minister René Wilke (independent) is also pushing for such a third lane on the A12. "As far as I know, the corresponding orders have now been issued."

The GdP union is fundamentally skeptical about the more intensive controls on the German side since May. "The Federal Police are turning away a great many people, well over 6,000, 7,000 a month," said Roßkopf. Given the increased workload for the Federal Police, the question arises "how long we can keep this up."

"We really need to consider whether we can conduct more intelligent controls," said GdP chairman Roßkopf. Concepts for flexible border control points with containers and drone technology already exist. However, there has been a failure to "expand the Federal Police into a modern border police force." dpa/nd