Germany's decision to tighten controls at each of its borders appears to be largely politically motivated, has little basis in law, represents a severe blow to Europe's precious freedom of movement and could put EU unity to a serious test.
On Monday, Berlin announced that the controls that have existed on the border with Austria since 2015, and with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since last year, will be extended to France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark next week.
The move will reduce migration and "represents protection against the acute dangers posed by Islamic terrorism and serious crime," said Nancy Feser, Germany's interior minister.
The latest in a series of deadly knife attacks, in which the suspects were asylum seekers, took place last month in Solingen, just a few days before key regional elections in eastern Germany, reminds the British "Guardian". In those elections, the far-right, anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved historic success in two federal states.
According to polls, migration is the biggest concern of voters in Brandenburg, where elections are held in two weeks. The center-left Social Democratic Party of Olaf Šolc is predicted to finish behind the far-right party in Brandenburg, and in all likelihood the weakened ruling coalition is headed for a heavy defeat in next year's federal elections.
"It seems that the government's intention is to symbolically show Germans and potential migrants that the latter are no longer desirable," Markus Engler from the German Center for Integration and Migration Research told the British newspaper.
Fezer said the new controls would include a program to allow more people to return immediately from the border, but declined to provide details.
Officials and diplomats in Brussels expressed displeasure, calling the move "transparent" and "obviously aimed at a domestic audience."
Germany's central position in the EU and its status as the bloc's largest economy mean that the border controls, which are due to come into force on September 16 for six months, could have an impact far beyond that on German voters.
In principle, Europe's passport-free area, known as Schengen, was created in 1985 and now includes 25 of the 27 EU members, as well as four other countries, including Switzerland and Norway, allowing free movement between them without border controls.
Temporary checks are allowed in emergency situations and exceptional circumstances to prevent specific threats to internal security or public order, and are usually introduced after terrorist attacks, for major sporting events and during pandemics.
However, European governments are increasingly, often under pressure from right-wing rhetoric on immigration, reintroducing controls without justification based on concrete and specific threats or clear arguments about how these controls can help mitigate them.
Although immigration policy and asylum monitoring procedures are decided at the national level, many observers argue that freedom of movement in Europe is an easy target - and "taking control of borders" sounds effective in the headlines.
In addition to Germany, Schengen members who currently carry out controls at certain borders include Austria, which cites the threat to security due to the war in Ukraine and pressure to issue asylum as reasons for controlling arrivals from Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán yesterday welcomed Germany's decision to introduce controls at all borders, saying that the country had finally woken up.
"Border protection has become a negative word lately, because everyone has had to let migrants in, and whoever stops them is the bad guy. Now Germany has woken up: terrorism, crime, the social and financial burden of migrants who don't want to work, all these things are starting to make Germans," said Orban in an interview with Hungarian state radio.
Denmark, citing terrorist threats linked to the war in Gaza and risks from Russian espionage, is implementing controls at land and sea crossings from Germany, while France is screening arrivals from the Schengen zone due to an increased terrorist threat.
Italy, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia and Finland also implement border controls, citing terrorist activities, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Russian intelligence activities, increased migration flows and organized crime in the Balkans.
As the guarantor of the Schengen agreement, the European Commission - which was informed of Germany's plans on Monday - generally accepted the justifications of the member states for reintroducing border controls.
Analysts expect the same to be the case with Berlin's request, despite the fact that there appears to be no clear justification - apart from the electoral threat from the anti-immigrant far right - to introduce controls at all nine borders.
The commission said on Tuesday that member states are allowed to take such a step to address "some serious threat", but the measures should be "necessary and proportionate" and must "remain strictly exceptional".
Temporary German controls "represent a clearly disproportionate violation of the principle of free movement within the Schengen zone," Alberto Alemano, professor of European law at HEC in Paris, told The Guardian. "It will not pass according to EU laws - but the question is, will it deter Solac from taking further steps?" Alemano said.
Kristofer Vratil from the University of Vienna was even harsher, accusing Berlin of "governing as if the AfD were (already) in power." After today, said Vratil, German politicians "should no longer tell me that someone else does not respect EU law... Wanting to destroy Schengen with one stroke of a pen - and completely without thinking".
Others emphasized the economic importance of the Schengen area. A report by the Bertelsmann Foundation back in 2016 estimated that reintroducing internal borders would cost Europe around €470 billion in lost growth over 10 years.
Gerald Knuas, chairman of the Initiative for European Stability, also questioned the effectiveness of the measure. "Internal border controls that have any effect mean the end of Schengen," Knaus posted on the X network.
They would also require "federal border protection and a fence around Germany," and, besides, "it won't work if the neighbors don't want to get involved," he added.
After the EU finally reached a tough deal to reform its asylum and migration laws earlier this year, with the rules not due to come into force until 2026, European unity could be severely tested if Germany asks its neighbors to accept a large number of migrants. Austria has already said it will refuse to take in migrants turned away at the German border, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday called Berlin's decision "unacceptable" and demanded urgent consultations.
Increasingly, European governments, often under pressure from right-wing immigration rhetoric, are reintroducing controls without justification based on concrete and specific threats or clear arguments about how these controls can help mitigate them
Bonus video:
