Rhineland-Palatinate wants to keep borders with neighboring countries open

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Mainz / Stuttgart (dpa / lrs) - The state government of Rhineland-Palatinate has spoken out against the closing of borders with neighboring countries due to the corona pandemic.

The common goal is to «reduce the number of infections, keep borders open and maintain trustful exchanges», said the representative of the state at the federal and for Europe, Heike Raab (SPD) after an exchange with the Belgian ambassador to Germany, Geert Muylle.

Previously, the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) had spoken of possible border controls like in the spring.

If the virus variants spread more and more in neighboring countries, "in extreme cases this can of course lead to border closings," said Kretschmann on Thursday in Stuttgart.

"We want to avoid them, of course," said the Green politician.

Kretschmann agreed to come to an agreement with the Prime Ministers of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, Malu Dreyer (SPD) and Tobias Hans (CDU), about the border with France.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210211-99-402763 / 2