Germany starts temporary border checks ahead of Euro 2024

German police can carry out temporary checks at all of the country's borders from Friday due to the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament, the Interior Ministry announced, reported dpa.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the move was necessary to provide the best possible protection for the major international event held across 10 German cities.

The aim of the checks is to identify and stop violent offenders at an early stage, Faeser said.

"Our focus ranges from the threat of Islamist terrorism to hooliganism and cyber attacks," Faeser said in a statement.

"The federal police will protect the German borders, airports and rail traffic."

Euro 2024 kicks off in Germany on June 14, with the final set for July 14.

Throughout the tournament, around 580 foreign police officers will join German officers, focusing on patrols in the host cities as well as at railway stations and on trains.

Additional controls will be established at the borders with Denmark, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, according to the interior ministry.

All five countries are members of the Schengen free-movement area, which means that there are normally no regular border controls and only very limited random spot checks.

Travellers from Europe's passport-free Schengen travel area may also be subject to checks at airports and seaports.

The checks will take place "depending on the situation and flexibly," the statement said.

The temporary checks have been registered until July 19. All travellers to Germany are therefore requested to carry valid travel documents.

Temporary border checks at the land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, first ordered in October in an attempt to stop smugglers and irregular migration, were recently extended to mid-December.

Similar border checks were reimposed along Germany's border with Austria in 2015 and remain in effect.

Faeser recently said that the security situation in Germany was "tense." However, there were no concrete indications of planned attacks.