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The government wants to discuss it on Wednesday
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) gave hope in the crown crisis that borders with neighboring countries would be gradually opened. Changes to border controls should always be made in cooperation with neighbors, Merkel said Tuesday, according to information from the participants’ German press agency, in a virtual meeting of the Union faction in the Bundestag. There will often be a two-step process. It is important to her that the checks do not continue “until the end of the day,” Merkel said.
Macron: France’s borders remain closed until mid-June
If there is an infection, there is a clear prospect for restoring the Schengen system of open internal borders in the EU, Merkel said. The most necessary thing is the opening of the border crossings as a whole. In many places, however, it will be a two-stage process. The issue will be discussed in the cabinet this Wednesday. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) wants to comment on the matter before Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a phone call Monday that his country wanted to continue border controls until mid-June. At the Franco-German border, steps towards normalization must be taken with the aim of returning to the old Schengen system of internal borders opened in June, when the infection situation is there. France will not relinquish border controls in any of its neighboring countries on May 15. But there are a variety of aid options, Merkel said.
Close coordination between countries is important to Merkel.
The same applies to Austria and Switzerland, said the chancellor. There have never been border controls with the Netherlands and Belgium, and this will continue to be the case. Poland and the Czech Republic had introduced border controls on their own initiative. Denmark and Luxembourg will probably be able to take another step in consultation with the Prime Ministers and the Danish government. Merkel was not more specific here. It is also important that action is not taken against the wishes of state prime ministers, but in close cooperation with them.
TVNOW documentary: what we learn from the crown crisis
What lessons can we learn from the biggest post-war crisis so far? We speak to experts. Was the state too inconsistent? Did schools close too quickly? What to do with hamster mayhem? And what is the real reason thousands of tourists are stranded around the world? See the TVNOW documentary: “What we learn from the crisis”.
