Halt, Papiere please. Media reacts to Polish inspections and blames German government

Commentators in Germany and Austria are warning of the negative impact of border controls on the economy. The press blames the German authorities for the decision of the Polish authorities, accusing them of intending to shift the migration problem to the EU's external borders.

Simone Schmollack, a correspondent for the German newspaper "Tageszeitung", writes that people are already furious about the traffic jams on the bridge connecting Frankfurt (Oder) with Słubice and on the A12 motorway. The controls introduced by the German side in the autumn of 2023 are making life difficult for people commuting to work in the other country, truck drivers transporting fruit and vegetables and citizens of both cities. From Monday, the anger will escalate further - predicts the journalist, referring to the controls on the Polish side.

Schmollack believes that the tightening of controls by the new German government in May has only led to frustration on both sides of the border.

"The border between Poland and Brandenburg is a green border - whoever wants to can slip through the forest past the checkpoints. The Polish reaction is understandable from their point of view, but it only further exacerbates the problem," we read in "TAZ".

The commentator slams the German government, which in her opinion “makes mistakes wherever they can be made.” Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet ignores the fact that Germany is doomed to rely on foreign specialists. In addition, Berlin is abandoning humanitarian values ​​and introducing unnecessary controls , “burdens the previously friendly relations with Poland.” And yet, after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Germany should care even more about good relations with Poland.

According to Schmollack, Germany should urgently agree to the Polish offer to waive controls if Germany suspends its controls. "In the meantime, the Polish citizen guard (Granary Defense Movement – ​​PAP) is arming itself, wanting to control primarily people with dark skin," the "Tageszeitung" journalist writes in conclusion.

In the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Viktoria Grossmann reports on “self-proclaimed” border protection groups led by the far-right Robert Bąkiewicz, supported by PiS and president-elect Karol Nawrocki. Bąkiewicz spreads “conspiracy theories about thousands of migrants deliberately being transferred from Germany to Poland.” Citing German police data, Grossmann reported that from September 2024 to the end of April 2025, there were 3,777 cases of migrants being turned away at the Polish-German border.

The "SZ" correspondent writes that in the past Poland did little to stop those migrants who entered Poland through the Polish eastern border from marching to the West. After Germany introduced controls, the Polish side has shown more interest in fulfilling its obligations and registering refugees.

Handelsblatt, Germany's leading business daily, is sounding the alarm about the expected negative effects of border controls on business. " German business is worried," writes Dietmar Neuerer. The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) even speaks of "great concern."

We are receiving information from business circles, especially from chambers of commerce and industry in border regions, that raises our concerns, said DIHK director Helena Melnikov. If employees from Poland are unable to report to work on time, they may start looking for employers in other European countries, which will deepen the deficit of specialists in regions such as Brandenburg.

Brandenburg's Interior Minister Refe Wilke fears "huge traffic jams and traffic chaos." Briefing the Brandenburg parliament's interior affairs committee on the situation, Wilke warned that the checks would have a huge impact on the region's residents. Several hundred thousand people would suffer, he said.

Melnikov stressed the importance of open borders in Europe.

"The free movement of people and goods is not a privilege, but a pillar of our economic success. This is particularly true for the export-oriented German economy," she added.

Many newspapers are publishing a dispatch from the dpa agency containing basic information about the Polish checks and tips on how to prepare for them. According to the authors, it is impossible to predict all the consequences of the decision to carry out checks. "Travellers must prepare to wait at the Polish border," we read in the dispatch, which notes that the restrictions are to last until August 5 for now. The dpa agency writes that the right-wing conservative opposition party PiS is pushing the issue of migrants in order to link "stoking anti-German prejudices with fear of migrants."

The Austrian daily "Der Standard" writes, through the pen of Gerald Schubert, that "the Schengen area has lost another open internal border" and recalls that 10 countries are currently making use of this possibility, including Germany and Austria.

Germany, which, despite not having an external EU border, is turning back asylum seekers and putting pressure on governments in neighbouring countries – even those that are not usually engaged in punishing Germans and that do not a priori treat European solutions as “the first step to treason against the fatherland”.

Liberal Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has experience negotiating compromises as a former European Council president. But even he now says: "The time when Poland did not react adequately to such actions is definitely over."

"These words are not surprising, although Tusk has not used such language before. This shows that the prime minister is under pressure from the opposition, which is hostile towards the EU and Germany, and from self-appointed border guards. Moreover, it is clear how great are the side effects of the domino effect, with which Berlin wants to transfer the migration pressure to the external borders of the Union," we read in "Der Standard".

Jacek Lepiarz (PAP)

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