Germany shows France how it's done with new plan to stop migration from 1 European country

As public concern over the state of immigration in Europe continues to grow, Germany and fellow EU member states Poland and Lithuania have taken major steps this month to tighten their borders and check migrants more thoroughly. According to German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, Russia and Belarus are trying to use "migration as a weapon" to destabilise Poland, Germany and the rest of the bloc.

However, at a meeting with his Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak at the Polish-Belarusian border on Monday (July 21), Mr Dobrindt praised Poland's border control measures. "Poland is Germany's most important partner within the EU, alongside our French neighbours," the minister said, adding that "Here you can see how effective external border protection is done." This latest development in Europe is a sharp contrast to the crisis in the English Channel, as Keir Starmer and France's Emmanuel Macron's "one in, one out" migrant deal has been branded a failure, with officials employed to carry it out saying the deal was only "scratching a very bare minimum of the surface".

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other government officials have long argued that Russia and Belarus are deliberately encouraging migrants to cross the border in an attempt to destabilise Poland, an ally of Ukraine, and the EU. In 2021, in the face of migrant arrivals, Poland's previous government built a steel barrier and imposed a state of emergency.

Mr Tusk's administration then recently ramped up measures to curb migration along Poland's heavily fortified border with Belarus, which is now secured by a high steel fence and electronic surveillance equipment. In May, the Polish parliament voted to extend the suspension of asylum applications from Belarus, allowing Polish authorities to suspend asylum rights for 60 days at a time.

However, German Interior Minister Mr Dobrindt has expressed support for Poland's recent decision to introduce temporary border controls in response to Germany's own tighter checks. Warsaw had claimed that Germany was transporting migrants into Polish territory after they reached Western Europe.

On Monday, the two interior ministers said that the reciprocal controls on the Polish-German border are temporary and their common goal is to lift them as soon as possible and to focus on protecting the EU's external borders.

Germany and Poland share a 290-mile border and are both part of the visa-free Schengen Area, which typically allows citizens to travel across borders easily for work or pleasure. However, according to the EU, Member States are allowed to introduce border controls in times of serious threat. Germany first imposed controls on its borders with Poland in 2023 to combat human trafficking and curb irregular migration.

After taking office in May, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz ordered more police to be stationed at Germany's borders and granted them powers to turn away some asylum seekers.

According to figures from mid-June, more than 15,000 people have crossed the English Channel on small boats so far this year-an increase of 35% compared with the same point in 2024. On May 31, 1,195 people crossed the channel in 19 small boats, marking the highest daily number recorded in 2025. On July 18, 419 people arrived in six boats, according to gov.uk data.