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Germany is preparing to relax the border regime imposed by the crown crisis. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a “two-stage process” to party colleagues in the Bundestag on Tuesday, the participants reported. Starting Wednesday, some German-Austrian border crossings should be open for travelers and residents, but the full opening should still take a while.
It is important to her that border controls do not continue until the “last,” Merkel said Tuesday, according to participants in a virtual meeting of the Union faction. Consequently, the next step will be discussed in the German federal government on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, the EU Commission wants to present guidelines for a gradual opening of the border.
As announced by the Vienna Federal Chancellery to the APA, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also called his German counterpart on Tuesday. Tomorrow, Wednesday night, Kurz was expected in the Kleinwalsertal valley in Vorarlberg, which, as a customs exclusion area that can only be reached from Germany, is particularly affected by Corona’s border restrictions.
The German federal police and Austrian authorities agreed to open several smaller border crossings. Upper Austria is about the Grenzberg-Hinteranger / Vorderanger and Voglau border crossings, which will be open from 7:00 a.m. at 8:00 p.m., and Bad Füssing-Obernberg (6:00 a.m. at 8:00 p.m.). As the APA announced on request, the Großgmain-Bayerisch Gmain border crossing in Salzburg will also be opened, but only for travelers residing or working in these two municipalities or Bad Reichenhall. According to German information, the Reit im Winkl-Kössen and Oberjoch-Schattwald border crossings should be opened for Tirol.
Denmark and Luxembourg could see further relaxation next week. “There are indications that the strict border controls will end on May 15,” at least at the border with Luxembourg, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” said. At the border with France, Austria and Switzerland, the number of crossings where the border is allowed could also be increased, the dpa found. Merkel said opening the border crossings as a whole was “the most necessary thing.” France, however, is still holding back the opening of the border. According to a call by the German Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer, to his counterpart, Christophe Castaner, from Paris, the entry restrictions extended by France until June 15 will be lifted “in due course”.
At its meeting on Wednesday, the German government wanted to discuss how to proceed with border controls. For example, it is considered that smaller border crossings that are still closed soon will only be randomly verified. A regulation establishing a basic entry permit for residents of regions near the border is also being discussed. In some German federal states, there are also plans to tip Corona quarantine for travelers.
Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) told the German Press Agency that he would suggest to his state government “change the quarantine regime for Saarland so that the 14-day quarantine is no longer applicable when entering the Schengen area” . This is due to the low number of new infections, but also due to the applicable distance and contact restrictions.
North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) is also pushing for further easing of state requirements to contain the crown virus. In an interview with the “Rheinische Post”, he advocated relaxing the quarantine obligation for returnees from European countries. He justified the end of the confinement in France, where people have had more freedom since Monday. At the same time, he reiterated his call for the German borders to be opened quickly.
CDU politician Norbert Röttgen, as Laschet’s candidate for the CDU presidency, recommended a look at neighboring countries: “There are still high rates of infection. If the Federal Government and the EU Commission continue to stop using it See I have no reason why we can afford more freedom of movement, “he told the” Passauer Neue Presse. “
By opening internal borders in Europe, the EU Commission relies on careful and coordinated action by EU countries. In its recommendations, which it would like to present on Wednesday, the Brussels authority does not call for an immediate return to the Schengen area, which is actually free of control. Instead, a flexible plan is proposed with the aim of gradually removing controls, according to the document the German Press Agency has drafted. The agency also emphasizes the importance of free travel for the tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.
The Federal Foreign Office world travel warning applies until mid-June. Until then, Germans should refrain from vacationing abroad. Whether this warning is extended depends on the course of the infection. According to information from coalition circles, he is considered to only warn of traveling to certain countries in the medium term.
The turquoise green federal government has been signaling for weeks that it wants to open its border to neighboring countries before the summer holiday season begins. The focus is especially on Germany, as the national tourism industry is highly dependent on German summer guests.
Briefly wants to lift border controls in Switzerland by June
Austria wants to ease some border controls with Switzerland in a few days and end all controls by June, federal chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Swiss broadcaster SRF on Tuesday.
“We are in good communication with the Swiss government,” Kurz told the station in an interview. “Our goal is to reach a clear easing agreement in the coming days and to complete border controls entirely in June.”
Switzerland has around 30,400 confirmed infections and 1,561 deaths, while Austria reported around 16,000 infections and 600 deaths.
Kurz said falling infection rates in Switzerland and Austria “are developing in a similar way” and are being opened to loosen border controls. “Both Switzerland and Austria are small export-oriented countries that are well connected in an international network,” said Kurz. “It is clear that the desire for openness in our countries may be stronger than elsewhere. Our goal, of course, is to resolve the situation affecting our largest border with Germany. Talks with Germany are going very well. Expect progress there too “.
Conservatives in the EU: stop controls from May 15
Leading European conservatives have called on the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to end border controls in the European Union after May 15. Quarantine regulations for EU citizens must also be lifted, 18 members of the presidium and heads of national delegations of the European People’s Party (PPE) demand in a letter on Tuesday.
The letter initiated by the chairman of the CDU / CSU group in the EPP group in the European Parliament, Daniel Caspary (CDU), was made available to the German publishing network (RND, Wednesday) and the German press agency in Berlin.
This Wednesday, the EU Commission plans to present a plan for the cautious opening of internal borders in Europe. According to one of the dpa drafts, the controls should be phased out. If coordinated and carried out safely, the coming months could give Europeans a much-needed recovery, the newspaper says. The German government, chaired by Chancellor Angela Merkel, also wants to look to the future of border controls.
In the letter to von der Leyen signed by Caspary and PPE politicians from 13 other countries, it was stated that in the early stages of the crown pandemic, border controls were appropriate and justified due to infection situations and the dynamics of infection in the various EU member states. “However, both developments are now comparable across the EU at a similar level.” What is essentially the same should not be treated substantially differently.
Therefore, the EU Commission should ensure, among other things, that close consultations are held between EU countries to achieve a common approach in liberalizing national measures to combat pandemics. In addition, clear measures should be developed and coordinated in the event of a new local or regional outbreak of the infection. Health authorities should coordinate their follow-up of contacts across borders. A Covid-19 application should be cross-border compatible across the EU.
(reuters / apa / dpa)
