Poland plans to introduce border controls with Germany, premier says

WARSAW

It is “very likely” that Warsaw will soon introduce “partial controls” on its border with Germany after Berlin started sending illegal migrants back into Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday.

“It is very likely we will introduce partial controls on the border with Germany this summer,” he told reporters in Warsaw, without providing details of what they would entail.

There are currently no checks on the border between Poland and Germany as both are in the Schengen free-travel area. In 2023, Germany reintroduced controls on its side of the border to stop the unlawful entry of migrants.

Tusk said earlier he is seeking support from EU partners to restrict visa-free access for Georgians. While “one third of Georgians would very much like to share our values … I am a strong advocate of limiting visa-free travel with countries that do not comply with standards,” Tusk told Radio Zet.

Speaking to parliament on Wednesday, Tusk said he had “warned the new government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz that, from the Polish side, we will critically and thoroughly check every attempt to send any migrant into Poland.”

Poland’s main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), has organized protests against Germany’s migrant returns.

In March, Tusk said Poland would stop complying with the EU’s Dublin Regulation allowing asylum seekers to be returned to the member state in which they first applied for protection, though his government has not done so yet.