Random inspections on the borders with Germany and Lithuania start

Temporary controls on the borders with Germany and Lithuania will be random, and the officers will first look at buses and cars transporting more people, especially the autom with tinted windows. At least financial consequences threaten to go in an unauthorized place.

At night from Sunday to Monday, temporary checks at the borders with Germany and Lithuania will start. On the Polish-German border they will be conducted in 52 places, and on the Polish-Lithuanian border in thirteen.

Second Lieutenant Konrad Szwed from the Border Guard Headquarters explained in an interview with PAP that officers They will control primarily buses and cars transporting more people. They will also be in the crosshairs Cars with tinted windows.

“Remember that this will not be on the border that took place before entering the Schengen zone, there will be absolutely no barriers or any fences. The cars will pass, and the inspections will only be carried out randomly, based on our risk analysis. In the case of stopping the vehicle, driver and passenger documents will also be checked, also vehicle trunk,” he informed.

He added that Before the checkpoint, there may be slow sleeves, the narrowing of the road or simply signals to slow down the traffic will be issued by officers. Second Lieutenant The Swede assured that the SG will make sure that the inhabitants of border areas, and above all those who commute to work on the other side of the border, did not feel the inconvenience.

In connection with the restoration of control to the borders with Germany and Lithuania, additional officers from other SG branches will be delegated.

“The first delegations to the destination at the western border and the border with Lithuania start on Sunday. In addition, we will be supported by the police, but also by the Territorial Defense Forces,” he noted.

He added that Inspections on both boundaries will take place in a similar way. “What is most important for citizens is that at the time of crossing the border they have a document entitling to cross it, i.e. an ID card or passport. Remember that this cannot be a document in the Mobatcore application,” he said.

As he explained, someone who crosses the border in a place not intended may face the financial penalty under Art. 49a of the Code of Offenses, but this may also be classified as an offense under Art. 264 parish 2 of the Penal Code. The first of the regulations says that “who, contrary to the regulations, crosses the border of the Republic of Poland, is punishable by a fine”; In this case, the penalty is PLN 500. The second recipe says that “who, contrary to the regulations, exceeds the border of the Republic of Poland, using violence, threat, trick or in cooperation with other people, is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years”.

Second Lieutenant The Swede emphasized that temporary restoration of border controls is necessary to reduce the flow of migrants.

“First of all, we record an increase in the number of foreigners detained on the Polish -Lithuanian border. Only this year, until June 29, we stopped 412 foreigners there. For comparison, 432 foreigners were recorded throughout last year,” he said.

To limit the influx of migrants, Germany introduced inspections on the border with Poland in October 2023. The closer control results in an increased number of migrants turning to Poland trying to cross the border despite not meeting the conditions of entry and stay in Germany.

On some sections of the Polish-German border, people associated with the so-called By the borders' defense movement, appointed by Robert Bąkiewicz. Members of this movement declare that “they are guarding the border with people trying to cross it illegally.”

Increased activities of the government in connection with the situation on the border were demanded by opposition politicians.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that he had decided to temporarily restore control on the borders with Germany and Lithuania. The head of government justified his decision with the need to stop the uncontrolled influx of migrants. Earlier, during the June debate on the vote of trust for the government, he declared that it was very likely that this summer partial inspections on the border with Germany would be introduced.

Until now, Poland has temporarily restored controls at Schengen's internal borders, justifying them with the severity of migration, epidemics and important international events. This was the case, for example, during the EURO 2012 championship co-organized by Poland and during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marcin Chomiuk (PAP)

MCHOM/ ABA/