Poland will introduce temporary controls on its borders with Germany and Lithuania starting July 7, the country's Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday, citing the Polish Prime Minister's office, UNN writes.
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"From July 7, we are restoring temporary border control on Poland's borders with Germany and Lithuania. This is a decisive response to threats related to illegal migration," the office of the Polish Prime Minister reported on X.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, at a government meeting, stated that "the decision to temporarily restore border controls with Lithuania and Germany is irreversible - regardless of the emotions prevailing in the capitals of other countries."
As Politico notes, the move comes amid rising tensions over illegal migration within Europe's free movement area.
Tusk warned on Monday that his country would reintroduce controls on the Polish-German border if it found that Germany was sending illegal migrants to Poland. He also said that his country would take measures to prevent illegal border crossings from the Lithuanian side, as Poland had to "put in a lot of effort, money, sweat, and unfortunately, a little blood, to make the eastern border with Belarus airtight."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reportedly defended Germany's border controls on Tuesday. "We naturally want to preserve 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 facilitate illegal migration, in particular, through the illegal transport of migrants," he said.
The interior ministers of Germany and Poland discussed the situation during a lengthy phone call on Monday evening, Merz said in Berlin.
"We are also negotiating with the Polish government regarding joint controls in the respective border areas," said the German Chancellor.
In response to Polish media reports, Merz said he wanted to clarify that Berlin was not sending back asylum seekers who had already arrived. "Some people here claim that there is, so to speak, regular repatriation tourism from Germany to Poland… This is not the case," he said.