Andreas Roßkopf, head of the police union (GdP) for the Federal Police, does not expect an increase in holiday traffic jams despite the tightened border controls. He told Stern that the Federal Police’s focus is on specific vehicle types and license plates – not on ordinary holidaymakers. The controls at all German land borders have been in place since September 2024, ordered by then Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD).
Roßkopf also criticized that the Federal Police has still not introduced modern, flexible border controls. “If it were up to the police union, we would have introduced modern, flexible border controls long ago. Unfortunately, this has not been done to this day,” he said. Current Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) intensified the controls in May 2025. They have already been extended three times – most recently until mid-September 2026.
The European Union (EU) recently called on Germany to gradually reduce the controls again. Dobrindt, however, is sticking to the tightened measures over the summer. The police union advocates for modernizing the controls to increase efficiency and relieve personnel.
Source: www.stern.de
