Migrants: Berlin wants to extend border controls with Austria

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Albanian and Kosovar migrants are deported from Munich International Airport on 18 November 2015. REUTERS / Michaela Rehle

Germany announced Friday (October 12th) that it wants to extend the controls restored at the border between Bavaria and Austria by six months, in order to fight against illegal immigration. Like many of the 26 member countries of the Schengen area, Germany has reintroduced them since 2015 and the peak of the migration crisis.

With our correspondent in Berlin , Nathalie Versieux

The measure, announced by the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin, will take effect from 12 November. The reinstatement of controls at the southern border of Germany by the Bavarian Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer led to the return of long queues at the crossing points between Germany and Austria, as well as the appearance of tail kilometers for heavy goods vehicles.

" We want to return to a Schengen model without borders, without controls, " said the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin, adding that there are still " problems with the protection of the external borders of the EU ".

According to the ministry, more than 7,000 illegal immigrants have reached Germany via the Austrian-German border since the beginning of the year and 4,000 people have been returned to the border.

The announcement of the extension of controls comes as the Bavarians are called Sunday to renew their regional parliament . The campaign was largely dominated by the issue of migration and the push of the far-right party AfD , credited with 10% of voting intentions in the polls.