German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Sunday that it is “legitimate” to want to defend borders at a time when European states are demanding EU assistance to build walls to prevent the entry of migrants.
Poland requested 350 million euros and mobilized thousands of soldiers to the border to build a wall on the border with Belarus.
“It seems to us legitimate to guard the external border. [da União Europeia] in order to prevent illegal entry, ”the German Interior Minister told the Bild newspaper, commenting on the need to build a wall in Poland.
Thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have tried to cross the Belarusian border into Poland, in a migration movement that Brussels suspects is provoked by Belarus in response to sanctions imposed by the European Union.
Lithuania has also begun construction of a barbed wire fence on the border with Belarus, and on October 7, interior ministers from 12 countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) sent a joint letter to the European Commission asking the EU to finance the construction.
On Friday, the chairman of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, responded that the European Union will not fund “barbed wire or walls” at borders.
Seehofer also warned today that border controls with Poland will be tightened, with about 800 police officers already involved.
And, “if necessary, I am ready to strengthen [o controlo fronteiriço] even more, “he guaranteed.
According to the German Interior Ministry, about 5,700 people have illegally crossed the Polish-German border since the beginning of the year.
The alleged smuggler was arrested Saturday after 31 illegal Iraqi immigrants were found in a van near the Polish border.
Seehofer, who ruled out the possibility of a closure of the Polish border, last week wrote to his Polish counterpart Mariusz Kaminski, proposing to increase the number of joint patrols along the border in the face of the growing number of migrants. fully support. “
