Poland reintroduces border controls with Germany, Lithuania in latest Schengen blow
The decision came on Tuesday, one day after Tusk had teased the measure at a press conference. He framed it as a reaction to an inflow of irregular arrivals from Lithuania and to reports that German was sending illegal migrants to Poland.
The prime minister said on Tuesday that the decision had been made after a briefing in the morning "on the situation at the Polish border and the consideration of the Border Guard's request for the temporary restoration of controls at the Polish-German and Polish-Lithuanian borders."
Based on this, the government had decided to temporarily restore controls that would enter into force from Monday.
Poland's announcement follows Belgium's move last month to reinstate police checks at the border this summer, delivering another blow to the Schengen dream of free movement, just days after the pact's 40th anniversary.
Poland previously suspended asylum applications at parts of its border with Belarus, as it accused Minsk and Moscow of targetedly sending migrants over the border to destabilise the country.
On Monday, Tusk said that he would now make sure that "people who cross borders illegally do not come from the Lithuanian direction."
There had also been reports in Poland that Germany was sending migrants, who had already arrived in Germany, to Poland. That had led to right-wing groups forming so-called 'Civic Guard' units that were patrolling border crossings with Germany.
Berlin had reintroduced checks at all its borders last year and started turning away all irregular arrivals including asylum seekers after the inauguration of the new conservative government in May.
"We have informed the German side that if there are cases that we see as doubtful, we'll have to reinstate checks at the Polish-German border," Tusk said on Monday.
Germany denies 'repatriation tourism'
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz denied that Germany had engaged in any such practice.
Some media in Poland had claimed that there was "so to speak, regular repatriation tourism from Germany to Poland", he said on Monday.
"This is not the case, there are no such cases," he stressed.
Merz said that illegal border crossings were "a joint problem" between Germany and Poland that needed to be solved. The two governments had been coordinating on the matter since last week and would work closely to "keep the burden [of the border controls] to a minimum,"
Lithuania also said it had been informed of the Polish decision.
Both countries would need to assess which measures would be most effective in protecting the EU's external border while "maintaining everyone's expectation that the measures won't violate our interest in free movement of persons," said Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys.
Blow to Schengen
Poland's decision came as the latest exception to Europe's border-free Schengen travel zone, supervised by the European Commission.
A Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday that controls at internal Schengen border were "possible under certain conditions."
The Commission was "in close with in close contact with all the member states that have border controls in place and all the member states that are affected by them," they added.
Several countries, including Germany, had used the possibility of legal exceptions to reintroduce border controls over the last few months, after migration figures spiked in 2023 after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Merz said on Tuesday that Europe was committed to "preserving this Schengen area."
"But freedom of movement in the Schengen area will only work in the long term if it is not abused by those who promote irregular migration, particularly through smuggling," he added.
Why Merz's migration crackdown is failing
A court ruled that Germany's new border policy is effectively unlawful. It will hardly change the reality on the ground.
Nicoletta Ionta and Alexandra Brzozowski contributed reporting.
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