- Title: Polish-German border controls stir fear of traffic standstill
- Date: 7th July 2025
- Summary: SWIECKO, POLAND (JULY 7, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLISH BORDER GUARD TALKING TO DRIVER OF VAN WITH GERMAN PLATES POLISH BORDER GUARD PULLING OVER VAN AS CARS DRIVE PAST INTO POLAND FLAGS OF GERMANY, POLAND AND EUROPEAN UNION CARS AND TRUCKS DRIVING INTO POLAND VARIOUS OF SIGN READING (German) "JOINT CENTRE FOR GERMAN-POLISH POLICE AND CUSTOMS COOPERATION IN SWIECKO" VAR
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Germany Poland border controls checks migration
- Location: SWIECKO, POLAND
- City: SWIECKO, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Europe,Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001785707072025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Poland's decision to introduce temporary border controls has sparked criticism, with some warning it could lead to severe congestion at border crossings.
In a phone interview with Reuters on Monday (July 7), Knut Abraham, the German government's coordinator of German-Polish cooperation, said that limiting traffic to one lane at the border could swiftly lead to "mega traffic jams".
"Is not a good day for German-Polish relations," Abraham said, adding that tightening controls at the Polish-German border wouldn't help solve migration issues.
Poland's interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak told private broadcaster TVN24 on Monday morning after the controls came into effect that everything was proceeding without incident and that traffic was moving smoothly.
Siemoniak said that Poland had deployed 800 police officers, 200 border officials and that 500 soldiers had been depolyed to search for smugglers and migrants at 52 border crossings without hindering commuter traffic too much.
(Production: Oliver Barth, Claudia Doerries, Lena Toepler, Johannes Toft Thyssen) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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