Friday

29th Mar 2024

Bavarian politician calls for checks on Austria-Germany border

  • Seehofer is one of Merkel's uncomfortable allies (Photo: Jens Volle/ Campact)

Bavarian leader Horst Seehofer has said Germany should introduce border checks to block refugees coming from Italy.

"Italy is in clear violation of the Schengen [border-free area] accords. If this doesn't stop, Germany has to seriously consider stopping this violation via border controls," he told the mass-selling tabloid, Bild, on Monday (8 September).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"We have to make sure that refugees are divided justly in Europe," he added.

Seehofer, who is governor of the south-east German region of Bavaria, said most refugees coming by train arrive from Italy via Austria. He said under EU rules, refugees need to apply for asylum in the first EU country in which they set foot.

"We must set quotas for refugees in Europe. And we have to deal with the fact that refugees need to be shared out among EU members fairly," he said.

According to Spiegel Online, Seehofer's Christian-Social Union (CSU) has drafted a seven-point plan demanding a temporary suspension of the Schengen accords at the Austrian border in order to stop African migrants who cross the Mediterranean to Italy and then travel on.

The plan, which is to be adopted next Monday in a CSU party meeting, also says the federal government should boost the number of staff dealing with migration and asylum and make shelters for refugees out of unused army barracks.

The Bavarian Conservatives - the sister party to chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party - also want a special EU commissioner dealing with refugees to be part of the new team lead by Jean-Claude Juncker.

Under EU rules, border checks can be temporarily reintroduced in extraordinary cases, when public safety or national security is threatened.

A temporary reintroduction of snap checks at the French-Italian border in 2011 for the same reasons - an increase in refugees - was deemed legal by the EU commission.

But the EU executive said at the time the "spirit of the Schengen rules has not been fully respected".

Bavaria is often the origin of Germany's more conservative policies.

Seehofer also recently pushed for rules to tighten access to welfare by non-German EU citizens.

Opinion

The Mediterranean Sea: A migration border

Economic, social and political instability in neighbouring countries creates migration, but are more border controls the best response?

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us