Germany to set up border controls for Euro 2024

Germany will introduce temporary controls at all its borders for the European Championship this summer, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Tuesday.

The measures come in the wake of the terror attack in Moscow on Friday.

Faeser and Scholz say temporary border controls to keep citizens safe

"We will carry out temporary border controls at all German borders during the tournament in order to prevent possible perpetrators of violence from entering the country," Faeser told the newspaper.

"This is necessary to provide the best possible protection for this major international event," added the minister. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the temporary checks were a "proven set of instruments" for security. Scholz told reporters during a visit to Slovenia that security has always been a "top priority." The checks were not unusual, he said.

Faeser said border control would focus on the threat of Islamist terrorism, extremists, hooligans and other violent criminals. Measures will also include network security against cyberattacks.

A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry on Monday said German security authorities have not made any changes to their security assessment of the terrorism threat to Germany in the wake of the Moscow attack, adding that their threat assessment is ongoing. 

Faeser explained that the threat of Islamist terror was already high before the current attack and remains so now. 

Germany, however, does not issue terror alert levels like other countries do.

Why doesn't Germany have terror alert levels?

France and Italy raised their terror alert levels in response to the attack. The security level in France is now at its highest level.

President Emmanuel Macron said the branch of the so-called Islamic State dubbed "ISIS-K," which claimed the Moscow attack, also "tried to commit several actions" on French soil. 

German officials says blanket terror alert levels are too general and do not specify the exact location of imminent threats. 

"The situation can vary from region to region, and even within a single city," the Interior Ministry says on its website.

This can lead to "the inaccurate feeling that the danger is the same everywhere." The Ministry also warned that alert levels can "unnecessarily increase the feeling of insecurity." 

Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office "periodically prepares risk assessments on the terrorist threat situation on a case-by-case basis," said an Interior Ministry spokesperson.

The Interior Ministry said "appropriate security measures will be implemented immediately" if risk in Germany increases. 

Border controls in Germany during 2006 World Cup

Germany temporarily introduced border controls when it hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2006.

The European Football Championship starts on June 14, with matches around Germany until July 14. 

Trade Union of German Police (GDP) Chair Alexander Poitz told the Rheinische Post that security authorities are well equipped for the event. 

In regard to the current threat situation, German conservatives from the right-leaning party CDU/CSU are calling for more power for the police and intelligence services in Germany.

Thorsten Frei, Parliamentary Director of CDU, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Tuesday that German security authorities need investigative tools similar to those used by foreign intelligence services, including the ability to conduct online searches or to evaluate video surveillance with the help of facial recognition and artificial intelligence.

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as/wmr (DPA, AFP)