Olaf Scholz has made a last ditch attempt to win over voters ahead of Sunday’s state election in Brandenburg by imposing border checks in one of the state’s cities, in defiance of Schengen rules.
The German Chancellor’s Social Democratic party is, according to the polls, likely to be beaten by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the third time in a matter of weeks.
Migration is a concern foremost in voters’ minds and is an issue owned by the AfD. The decision to impose border checks for those crossing from Słubice, Poland, into the city of Frankfurt an der Oder must be viewed as an attempt to convince voters the governing coalition can be tough on immigration after all.
However, the move flouts the EU’s Schengen arrangements, which stipulates that member states within the zone must allow people to move freely, unchecked.
Leaders from Schengen member states are split over the decision from embattled Mr Scholz.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, said: “The response [to migration] cannot be unilaterally scrapping Schengen and dropping the ball to countries which sit at Europe’s external borders.”
Meanwhile Polish prime minister Donald Tusk plainly said the checks were due to an “internal political situation”. He added that it may lead to “the de facto suspension of the Schengen agreement on a large scale”.
However, states with more right-leaning leaders have pointed to Mr Scholz’s decision and used it to legitimise their own calls to scrap Schengen rules.
Dutch coalition member and leader of the Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, asked: “If Germany can do it, why can’t we?”
While Marine Le Pen, pf France’s National Rally party, said: “Now Germany is doing it. When will France follow?”
According to an Infratest poll, the AfD are leading the Chancellor’s SPD, but only by a point.
The AfD are sitting on 27 percent, while the SPD are on 26, with the Christian Democrats (CDU) on 16 percent.
