Poland defends new border checks as German officials warn of fallout

Poland's new checks at the German border, launched in an attempt to target "illegal smuggling," were being watched closely on Monday as German representatives warned of disruptions to cross-border traffic and free movement.

Polish border guards began spot checks at midnight (2200 GMT) at a total of 52 border crossings with Germany, as well as 13 crossings along the border with Lithuania.

"The checks are targeting those involved in the illegal smuggling of migrants across the border. Ordinary travellers have nothing to worry about," Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak was quoted as saying in a post by his ministry on X.

According to the Polish Interior Ministry, about 800 border guards, 300 police officers, 200 military police and 500 members of the volunteer homeland security organizations were involved in the checks on the first day.

Border guards say they will focus particularly on buses, minibuses and cars with many passengers, as well as vehicles with tinted windows.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the temporary border checks at the start of July in response to stricter German controls at the shared border.

Germany has been carrying out random checks at the border since October 2023, with controls stepped up since May under Chancellor Friedrich Merz's administration, which is pursuing a harder line on immigration.

Poland defends controversial checks

Polish authorities said the checks were working as planned and had already stopped several people from entering the country illegally.

In the early hours of the morning, Polish border guards announced on X that they had apprehended an Estonian citizen travelling with four Afghan nationals in his car who were trying to enter the country illegally at a crossing from Lithuania.

Siemoniak said the man thought he would make it across the border before the checks were introduced. "And that is precisely the proof that these checks are necessary."

"Everything is going smoothly, traffic is flowing smoothly so far," Siemoniak told the TVN24 broadcaster.

German lawmakers warn of consequences

The checks, set to run initially until August 5, have prompted criticism from German politicians.

Conservative lawmaker Knut Abraham told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland media group that important supply chains are dependent on "unimpeded" border traffic, and warned that the checks place a heavy burden on the region.

Senior Green Party lawmaker Britta Hasselmann also highlighted the disruption for people in the border region. However, she said Germany is to blame for the policy.

"The introduction of Polish border checks is a consequence of Germany going it alone at all its borders," she wrote on X.

Hasselmann referred to the situation as a "tragedy," saying Merz was causing "immense damage to Europe."

Traffic manageable so far

Germany's ADAC motorist club warned that holidaymakers should expect traffic jams because of the border checks.

While traffic disruptions on Monday morning were manageable, an ADAC spokesman said the upcoming holidays in German states bordering Poland would be a "yardstick" for the policy's potential disruption.

Far-right vigilantes to continue border patrols

Far-right activists in Poland have also expressed wariness about the government's new measures.

Robert Bąkiewicz from the so-called Border Defence Movement told dpa on Monday that the group plans to continue its unauthorized patrols at the border despite the checks by the Polish border guard.

Bąkiewicz said the patrols are also about checking the work of the official border guard. "We want to observe whether checks are actually taking place or if it is just a publicity stunt by the government."

Bąkiewicz is known in Poland for having organized annual right-wing marches for Polish Independence Day in Warsaw in the past. For some time now, his newly founded movement has been recruiting volunteers to stop vehicles at the border with Germany and search for migrants.

A banner from the group reading "No! Immigration" hung next to a checkpoint between the city of Frankfurt an der Oder and Słubice.

His group, backed by the conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, accuses Tusk's government of willingly accepting a large number of migrants from Germany and not having the situation at the border under control.

Shengen under strain

Germany and Poland, like most EU countries, are part of the visa-free Schengen area, which abolished border checks between its members. But concerns about migrant numbers have put the principles behind the Schengen area under strain in recent years.

Soon after taking office on May 6, Merz's government said it would begin turning back asylum seekers at the Polish border, a particularly contentious issue in Poland, where far-right activists have spread rumours that German officials are transporting asylum seekers to Poland.

Since May 8, German officials have refused entry to around 1,300 people coming from Poland, according to the Interior Ministry. One in 10 cases involved an asylum request.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has offered Siemoniak joint checks on the German side of the shared border, an offer which has not been accepted.

He has also invited his French, Polish, Austrian, Danish and Czech counterparts, as well as the EU migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, to a "migration summit" on July 18.

Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said the aim was to improve the European Union's external border protection. Internal checks are only a temporary measure, he said.

"We do not want permanent border checks," Kornelius emphasized.