Latest news with #bordercontrols
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Starmer will hold talks with Macron TODAY amid Channel migrants 'blame game' - with 'one in, one out' deal hanging in balance
Keir Starmer will hold talks with Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street today amid an apparent blame game over the Channel migrant crisis. The PM is hoping the French president will commit to a tougher approach to tackling record crossings during his State Visit to the UK. However, while stressing the need for cooperation Mr Macron used a speech to both Houses of Parliament last night to swipe at 'pull factors' drawing people towards Britain. France has long complained that it is too easy for illegal arrivals to work and claim benefits in this country. One of Mr Macron's MPs recently branded the UK an 'El Dorado for migrants'. The prospects of a so-called 'one in, one out' deal with Paris are also hanging in the balance. The pact would mean small boat migrants being sent back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link. Ministers believe the plan could help act as a deterrent, although they acknowledge the scale could be very small initially. But critics have branded the idea a 'migrant merry-go-round', while the EU commission has intervened to raise concerns that it could cause problems for other member states. Sir Keir and Mr Macron are expected to use a summit tomorrow to announce plans to step up enforcement on French beaches in return for millions of pounds in extra funding from the UK. There have been complaints that the £770million handed to Paris for border controls over the past 12 years has achieved little. In his wide-ranging speech, Mr Macron, said this week would produce 'tangible results' aimed at reducing the flow of illegal arrivals across the Channel. Mr Macron said Britain and France had a 'shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarityand firmness'. It was 'legitimate', he said, for migrants to 'hope for a better life elsewhere'. But he said the two countries 'cannot allow' rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with 'so little respect for human life'. Alongside Downing Street talks, Sir Keir and Mr Macron are also expected to attend a reception with UK and French businesses and an event at the British Museum later. Their spouses, Brigitte Macron and Lady Victoria Starmer, will have tea and a tour of Downing Street together, followed by all four having lunch. While they are being hosted by the King at Windsor, the Macrons will lay flowers on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II and see Fabuleu de Maucour, a horse the French president gave Elizabeth in 2022 to mark her Platinum Jubilee.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Poland begins controls on borders with Germany and Lithuania
Poland has reintroduced temporary border controls with Germany and Lithuania in response to public concerns over irregular migration. The measures came into force at midnight on Sunday and will last until 5 August, in the latest example of EU governments imposing measures that are straining the fabric of the bloc's passport-free Schengen zone. There have been far-right protests in Poland and anti-immigration campaigners have claimed that Germany is sending people to Poland despite them not having originally entered Germany via Poland, in contravention of EU rules. German authorities have denied this. Poland's controls are being carried out by hundreds of extra police officers and soldiers on 52 border crossings with Germany and 13 with Lithuania. Germany introduced similar random checks on the Polish border in 2023. In May, shortly after the new government of Friedrich Merz took office, the German interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, ordered more intensive controls which meant that asylum seekers could be turned back at the border, sparking controversy and triggering court challenges. Dobrindt has called a summit on 18 July at which regional politicians are to discuss the challenges that are putting considerable strain on the Schengen zone. Under EU regulations, temporary border controls are allowed in order to address serious threats, but they can only be kept in place for a limited time. On Monday, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said his government was made up of 'supporters of … Europe without borders' but that they were operating in the interests of the entire EU. 'We are doing this for you, for the Germans, the Dutch, the French, because it's the border of the European Union,' he said. The interior minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, said the measures were necessary to prevent irregular migration through Poland. While the controls are only meant to last for 30 days, Siemoniak added: 'If the Germans don't remove their controls, we will continue with ours too.' He said the problem had been exacerbated by the tightening of controls at the Poland-Belarus border, leading to rising numbers elsewhere. 'We are seeing a significant increase in illegal migrants crossing the border into Lithuania, Latvia and then travelling to Poland,' he said. For some time Poland has been warning against what it says is a Russian-Belarusian campaign to destabilise the EU and stoke the far right by incentivising irregular migration through the bloc's eastern borders with Belarus. Siemoniak said that just before the controls began at midnight, Polish border guards stopped an Estonian man attempting to smuggle four people, thought to be Afghan citizens, over the border. 'This is exactly the proof we need as to how necessary these controls are,' he said. Tusk said the same four people had been previously registered as attempting the illegal crossing from Belarus. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Tusk repeated his thinly veiled criticism of Germany, saying the new controls would allow the Polish authorities to scrutinise every case of a person being turned away by the German border force and pushed back into Poland. 'It will no longer be the case that anyone who has crossed the border illegally and whose documentation is incomplete or unclear will be sent to Poland from anywhere – whether from Germany or any other country,' Tusk said. In Berlin, Merz's spokesperson said: 'The protection of borders against irregular migration is an interest that Germany has, that Poland has, that our European neighbours share with us. We do not want permanent border controls.' Germany's government commissioner for Poland, Knut Abraham, described the border controls as a 'heavy burden' for the border region. 'This is not a good day for German-Polish relations,' he said. 'Intensifying controls at the German-Polish border will not be the solution to the migration problem.'
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Poland reintroduces border controls with Germany in migrant crackdown after new nationalist president's 'Poles first' agenda
Poland temporarily reintroduced border controls with Germany and Lithuania at midnight Sunday, saying they are needed to control 'illegal immigration'. The issue was central to June's presidential election where nationalist Karol Nawrocki - who ran on a slogan of 'Poland first, Poles first' - narrowly defeated the candidate backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Tusk government is now seeking to outflank its rivals by taking a tough approach to immigration. Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Sunday the decision was taken purely to combat 'illegal immigration' and insisted Poles and other EU nationals would not face inconvenience. In total, 52 checkpoints have been set up on the border with Germany and 13 with Lithuania, the minister said. The controls will last from 7 July to 5 August but could be extended. They will mostly consist of spot inspections, particularly of vehicles carrying several people, Polish officials said. Germany reintroduced temporary checks on the border with Poland in November 2023. Warsaw last month began to accuse Berlin of sending irregular migrants arriving from Poland back across the border. 'The German side is now actually refusing to authorise the entry of migrants heading to Germany to request asylum or obtain another type of status,' Tusk said Tuesday. The controls on Lithuania's border were introduced to stop migrants coming in from Belarus, according to Poland. Nationalist and far-right politicians accuse Tusk's government of having 'abdicated' to Germany on migration and of allowing Berlin to overwhelm Poland with migrants. In late June, members of a far-right party gathered at several points along the border to set up 'citizens' patrols', which the government insists are illegal. The German interior ministry last week said it would 'do everything possible to find a good solution, a good joint solution'. The Germans have proposed joint patrols but the Poles have refused.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Poland begins controls on borders with Germany and Lithuania
Poland has reintroduced temporary border controls with Germany and Lithuania in response to public concerns over irregular migration. The measures came into force at midnight on Sunday, and will last until 5 August, in the latest example of EU governments imposing measures that are straining the fabric of the bloc's passport-free Schengen zone. The Polish move follows far-right protests in the eastern European country, where anti-immigration campaigners have claimed that, in contravention of EU rules, Germany is sending people to Poland despite them not having originally entered Germany via Poland. German authorities have denied this. Poland's controls are being carried out by hundreds of extra police officers and soldiers on 52 border crossings with Germany and 13 with Lithuania. Germany introduced similar random checks on the Polish border in 2023. In May, shortly after the new government of Friedrich Merz took office, the German interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, ordered more intensive controls which meant that asylum seekers could be turned back at the border, sparking controversy and triggering court challenges. Dobrindt has called a summit on 18 July at which regional politicians are to discuss the challenges that are putting considerable strain on the Schengen zone. Under EU regulations, temporary border controls are allowed in order to address serious threats, but they can only be for a limited time. On Monday the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said that his government was made up of 'supporters of … Europe without borders' but that they were operating in the interests of the entire EU. 'We are doing this for you: for the Germans, the Dutch, the French, because it's the border of the European Union,' he said. The interior minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, said the measures were necessary to prevent irregular migration through Poland. While the controls are only meant to last for 30 days, Siemoniak added: 'If the Germans don't remove their controls, we will continue with ours too.' He said the problem had been exacerbated by the tightening of controls at the Poland-Belarus border, leading to rising numbers elsewhere. 'We are seeing a significant increase in illegal migrants crossing the border into Lithuania, Latvia and then travelling to Poland,' he said. For some time Poland has been warning against what it says is a Russian-Belarusian campaign to destabilise the EU and stoke the far right by incentivising irregular migration through the bloc's eastern borders with Belarus. Siemoniak said that just before the controls began at midnight, Polish border guards had stopped an Estonian man attempting to smuggle four people, thought to be Afghan citizens, over the border. 'This is exactly the proof we need as to how necessary these controls are,' he said. Tusk said the same four people had been previously registered as attempting the illegal crossing from Belarus. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Tusk repeated his thinly veiled criticism of Germany, saying the new controls would allow the Polish authorities the ability to scrutinise every case of a person being turned away by the German border force and pushed back into Poland. 'It will no longer be the case that anyone who has crossed the border illegally and whose documentation is incomplete or unclear, will be sent to Poland from anywhere – whether from Germany or any other country,' Tusk said. In Berlin, Merz's spokesperson said: 'The protection of borders against irregular migration is an interest that Germany has, that Poland has, that our European neighbours share with us. We do not want permanent border controls.' Germany's government commissioner for Poland, Knut Abraham, described the border controls as a 'heavy burden' for the border region. 'This is not a good day for German-Polish relations,' he said. 'Intensifying controls at the German-Polish border will not be the solution to the migration problem.'
Khaleej Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Poland imposes checks on German and Lithuanian borders amid migration fears
Poland introduced temporary controls on its borders with Germany and Lithuania on Monday, in what the government said was a step to check migrants more thoroughly amid public concerns over immigration. The move followed similar border measures over the past year and a half by The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany that have strained the fabric of Europe's passport-free Schengen zone. In Poland, the debate over migration has become increasingly heated in recent weeks, with groups of far-right activists launching "citizens' patrols" on the western border. Germany has had checks on its border with Poland since 2023, but this year shifted to a tougher approach that has seen it reject undocumented migrants, as well as returning them to Poland under EU rules and a bilateral agreement. Warsaw says that has left it facing an unfair extra burden. It also says that migrants in Belarus are trying to enter the EU through Latvia and Lithuania because their border defences are relatively weaker. "That is why we have introduced controls on the border with Lithuania," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday. "To redirect this stream of people, which is deflected by our barrier, but which wants to cross Poland again through the border with Latvia and Lithuania, and further into Europe." Knut Abraham, Berlin's coordinator for German-Polish relations, said the checks could lead to congestion and hold up goods, while having little actual impact on migration. Rafal Gronicz, the mayor of the Polish border town of Zgorzelec, also said he was worried about the effect on traffic and doubtful over whether the controls were needed. "As long as I live, I have never known anyone who wanted to escape from Germany to Poland," he told TOK FM. "I hope that this will change someday. For now, it is just fake news. There are no pressing waves of migrants walking around Zgorzelec." Poland's centrist government says that the numbers of migrants returned to Poland from Germany were higher under the previous nationalist government. The interior ministry and border guard said the checks would not slow down traffic and that they had already detained an Estonian citizen on Poland's border with Lithuania for transporting four illegal migrants believed to be Afghans. Public sentiment in Poland towards migrants has hardened since a Venezuelan citizen was charged with killing a 24-year-old woman in the city of Torun in June. On Sunday some 10,000 people took part in a march organised by nationalist activists in remembrance of her. On Saturday evening a Polish man died after being stabbed during a fight in Nowe, northern Poland. Police said on Monday they had detained 13 people in connection with the incident - three Poles and 10 Colombians. State news channel TVP Info on Sunday showed angry crowds gathering in the town outside the workers' hostel where the Colombians lived. Human rights activists condemned the "citizens' patrols". "The actions of these self-proclaimed groups are the result of a radicalising political narrative that presents migration as a threat, which fuels social fears and distrust of state institutions," the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights said in a statement on Friday. "The Foundation once again appeals for an honest and reliable public debate on the migration situation and border policy, based on facts, not fear and manipulation."
