Germany to extend EU border controls for 2 months

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has announced that border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland will be extended beyond December 15 for at least two months, reported dpa.

"Our measures are working. Our fight against the unscrupulous business of people smugglers, who brutally jeopardize human lives, is successful," Faeser told the German newspaper Rheinische Post, in remarks published Friday.

Stationary and mobile checks have had a marked effect since being introduced in October, curbing irregular migration to Germany and relieving the burden on local authorities.

On Monday Faeser had extended the border controls until December 15. According to the Ministry of the Interior, around 3,300 unauthorized entries have been detected and 1,100 unauthorized entries were prevented since the checks were introduced on October 16.

"This means that these measures are working and will continue to do so," said a spokesman.

Andreas Roßkopf, responsible for the federal police at the police union, told the Rheinische Post that the number of asylum seekers could not be reduced by police means and that asylum applications could not be prevented.

It needs to be clarified "whether thousands of police officers should actually remain at the border or whether they would not be better deployed for security in the cities and the asylum problem solved within the EU framework."

The security situation in Germany is highly sensitive at the moment, with several plots to attack Christmas markets already being investigated.