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Controls at the German border will be carefully relaxed starting this Saturday. According to the dpa news agency, border controls introduced due to the crown crisis will be completely suspended on June 15. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) said at a press conference that as of this date free crossing can be imagined again. The prerequisite for these regulations is that the infection rate continues to decline.
Firstly, border crossings from Luxembourg will be facilitated, border controls will be abolished as of May 15. At the German-Denmark border, Germany is also ready to stop controls “as soon as the Danish government has carried out its ongoing consultations with its neighboring countries.” However, on the borders with France, Austria and Switzerland, they should continue until June 15. That was agreed in talks with interested countries, Seehofer said.
According to the Interior Ministry, relief is the result of the positive development of the infection process. However, if the number of new infections in neighboring regions increases dramatically, they will be controlled more intensively again. The applicable guide in Germany of more than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants offers guidance in seven days.
All border crossings should be allowed to be reused.
In the past few days, Seehofer had argued with his counterparts in neighboring countries and with the prime ministers of border federal states about the details of a gradual return of stationary controls to normal border surveillance in the 30-kilometer range.
According to the Ministry, the 14-day quarantine ordered by the federal states for all those who come to Germany in the future should only apply to people who have previously been in third countries. For example, no longer for Germans arriving from France or the Netherlands. However, the decision on quarantine rests with the countries’ heads of state.
Controls at the borders with Denmark, Luxembourg, France, Austria and Switzerland were introduced on March 16 to curb the infection in Germany. Since then, only those who can give a “valid reason” for it, such as travelers, members of the medical profession, or EU citizens heading to their home country, can enter the country.
As announced by the Ministry, all border crossings can be reused as of Saturday. In the past few weeks, only a few major traffic routes have been opened to cross the border. In many places, this has led to traffic jams and detours for travelers. The federal police should in the future only control “in a flexible and risk-based manner”, “not as systematically as before.”
In the coming weeks, one must also be prepared to react to any deterioration, Seehofer emphasized. It was too early to relax border controls between Italy and its neighboring countries, Seehofer said.
This Wednesday, the EU Commission also wanted to present a plan for the cautious opening of internal borders in Europe. According to a draft, controls will be phased out across Europe. A world travel warning from the Federal Foreign Office currently applies until June 14. Accordingly, Germans generally must refrain from vacationing abroad, also because a return trip can be very difficult due to Corona’s new measures.
