On July 7, Poland resumed temporary border checks with Germany and Lithuania, which will last until August 5. These measures have been introduced to combat illegal migration, according to RMF24.
Checks are being conducted at 52 points, 13 of which are located on the border with Lithuania. Hundreds of border guards, police officers, military gendarmes, and territorial defense forces are involved in maintaining order.
Due to the reinstatement of controls on the Polish-German border, traffic organization at border crossings in the villages of Lubieszów (DK10 route), Kołbaskowo (A6), and Krajnik Dolny (DK26), as well as in the town of Raszków (DK13), has changed. Speed limits have been introduced, and some traffic lanes have been temporarily closed.
On the border with Lithuania, the first arrests have already taken place: border guards detained an Estonian citizen who attempted to transport four illegal migrants, likely from Afghanistan.
Poland’s Minister of the Interior and Administration, Tomasz Siemoniak, assured that these checks are intended to enhance security without complicating life for local residents and tourists.
“We will do everything to ensure that these selective checks are as unobtrusive as possible for the citizens of Poland, Lithuania, and the European Union. During the checks, only those vehicles suspected of carrying illegal migrants will be inspected.”
– Tomasz Siemoniak
The Lithuanian broadcaster LRT reports that Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda considers Poland’s introduction of border checks a “temporary capitulation to the problem of illegal migration.”
“The root of this problem lies in the fact that we still cannot perfectly control external borders against illegal migration, but we must strive for this and abandon as soon as possible those measures that are not typical for the European Union, which, allow me to say, are a temporary capitulation to the problem.”
– Gitanas Nausėda
Earlier, Tomasz Siemoniak noted that Poland is ready to lift the temporary controls on the border with Germany if Berlin makes the same decision.
He emphasized that if Germany cancels the enhanced controls on its side, Poland “will see no reason” to continue such measures.