Germany reinstates land border checks for six months in much-criticised move

Rows of German border police cars and vans have been gathering at the border crossing from Belgium into Germany to carry out passport checks, the same deployment expected at all nine land borders.

The move came after Germany decided to reintroduce temporary border checks, effectively putting a land border hold on Schengen, the free-movement zone in Europe, mostly among EU member states.

"The goal is to curb migration and protect against the acute dangers posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime,” the country's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said last week.

"We shape our measures to be able to act flexibly in time and places. There will not be the same intensity at the same time or in the same places at all times," Richard Koester, the head of Federal Police Inspectorate of Aachen, told Euronews.

"In addition to the border control, we implement measures in a 30 km deep border space. It is not expected of us to be everywhere at the same time with the same intensity, but the controls will be done today in the whole border area," Koester added.

Controls are planned for six months but may extend further.

Officials and diplomats in Brussels have expressed dismay, calling the move “obviously aimed at a domestic audience”.

The new control points are not causing any traffic jams for now, but travellers can still help speed up the process by having their travel documents ready before crossing the German border, as they could face spot checks.