Germany, Poland seek to diminish border-check traffic snarls

Germany's Interior Ministry is seeking to minimize traffic disruptions resulting from checks at the border with Poland, with solutions being examined to avoid traffic jams on the motorway linking the two countries.

Poland plans to introduce temporary checks at the German-Polish border from Monday, in response to German border checks in place since October 2023 in a bid to quell irregular migration.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt ordered more intensive border checks shortly after the new conservative-led coalition government took office in May.

The Interior Ministry said that the German measures are already causing traffic disruptions in the border area.

"The federal police are ensuring the ease of cross-border travel and goods traffic to the greatest extent possible," a ministry spokesman told dpa.

He said that structural changes were being considered on the A12 motorway between the German border city of Frankfurt an der Oder and Świecko in Poland.

Polish border snarl-ups

The German border checks are already causing frequent traffic jams along the A12 on the Polish side, causing concerns for the leaders of the regions on either side of the border.

Brandenburg state Premier Dietmar Woidke has joined forces with his counterpart for the Polish region of Lubusz, Marcin Jabłoński, to ask the German federal state for solutions.

Traffic could be eased by creating a third lane for checks in the border area on the A12 motorway, Woidke told Saturday's edition of the local newspaper Märkische Oderzeitung.

Joint German-Polish checks?

Woidke, whose state surrounds the German capital, has also suggested joint border checks by both countries.

"The federal government is responsible for securing Germany's external borders. However, I see room for improvement in coordination with the Polish side," he told the newspaper.

"Additionally, as a former Poland coordinator, I wonder why border checks are not conducted jointly by German and Polish police forces. A signal from the federal government is overdue here," Woidke added.

Poland would halt border checks if Germany does

Poland is ready to forego the border checks planned from Monday if the German government suspends its checks. "If Germany lifts its checks, which, I would like to remind you, have been in place since October 2023, we also see no reason to check entrants from Germany," Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said in Warsaw on Saturday.

Siemoniak further stated that he had informed the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner about the planned step. He said that Brunner had accepted the Polish side's reasoning.