He bad boy of the club. The most clumsy member of the family. The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbanhas for years been the most belligerent leader in the management of migration flows in the European Union. In 2015, in the midst of the refugee crisis, erected 175 kilometers of fence of cables on its southern border with Serbia. It then replicated the barrier on the border with Croatia and eventually temporarily reinstalled border controls with Slovenia, with which it shares the Schengen area. Everything to prevent the arrival of migrants who cross this country to go mainly to Germany, which, under the leadership of the Christian Democratic leader Angela Merkel, had adopted a policy with open armsParadoxically, today it is this same Germany that has closed its doors, reviving the fear of seeing one of the main pillars of the European project collapse: the free movement of people and goods.
On September 9, the tripartite government of Olaf Scholz (which brings together social democrats, greens and liberals) announced the decision to impose temporary controls on all its borders – and this in one week – to reduce irregular migration and protect the country from Islamist terrorism. “We are strengthening our internal security,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. Specifically, the 3,767 kilometers that he shares with his neighbors, who were quick to come forward. “It’s a suspension de facto “of the Schengen agreement on a large scale,” denounced Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. For its part, Austria warned that it would not accept any migrants turned back at the German border. This decision, however, has shaken to the whole continent.
As explained Alberto BuenoProfessor of Political Science at the University of Granada and the University ofAnd Leipzig, a country of Germany’s weight imposes controls on its nine borders “sets a dangerous precedent”. Not because it is an exceptional measure, but “because it can have a ripple effect”. In fact, the Schengen Agreement, which came into force in 1995 and now covers 29 states, gives its members the possibility to temporarily introduce internal border controls in exceptional situations, such as in case of serious threat for public order or national security. However, in recent years many countries have frequently resorted to this measure, on paper, “as a last resort”.
In all, eight countries currently have temporary border controls active, according to European Commission data. Francefor example, has imposed them since the Paris attacks in 2015. The deadline being six months, extendable, French President Emmanuel Macron extended them for various reasons. The last one? The increased risk of suffering a terrorist attack during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In the case of Denmark, The surveillance of its border with Germany is due to fear Russian espionage in the context of the invasion of Ukraine and terrorist threats related to the war in Gaza. Especially after anti-Islamic protests and the burning of the Koran by some extremist groups made the Scandinavian country a target for militias. Something similar is alleged Suede.
Even Germany It has been controlling its borders for over a year: in October 2023, coinciding with the outbreak of war in the Middle East and a surge in people arriving via the Balkan routeBerlin has suspended free movement with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland to curb irregular immigration. According to the German government, this has allowed them to prevent the entry of 30,000 migrants at the moment.
It is precisely with this supposed “efficiency” that the German executive has excused itself for reinforcing the remaining borders – France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark -, despite the risk that the flow of goods and workers who move freely between the Schengen countries. In fact, from the beginning, it was warned that traffic jams could occur on the road and delays in railway movements. A prioriThe measure will be in effect until next year.
The vehicles pass through a checkpoint at the German-Polish border crossing “Stadtbruecke” in Frankfurt.
Elections in Brandenburg… and in 2025
“In reality, what is exceptional in the case of Germany is that the decision was taken so immediately and that it was also a social democratic government. [tradicionalmente más laxos en política migratoria] “It doesn’t matter who did it,” Bueno told El ESPAÑOL. The expert recalls that the announcement came shortly after the jihadist attack on a concert at a festival in the western city of Solingen that left three people dead. After the attack, criticism of the authorities over their management of immigration increased and the German Chancellor announced the expulsion of 28 Afghans sentenced for the first time since the Taliban arrived in this Central Asian country.
This unease was then reflected in the ballot boxes with the historic rise of the far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AFD), which with an anti-immigration and xenophobic discourse came first in the regional elections of Thuringia and second in Saxony. “Scholz is trying to address concerns about immigration that are stirring up the far right and on which Conservatives are also putting pressure on of the Christian Democrats (CDU),” says the academic. And he adds: “The movement has a completely electoral explanation.”
“The reintroduction of all borders in Germany sets a dangerous precedent”
These are the elections that are taking place This Sunday, September 22 in Brandenburgan East German state that has been a bastion of social democracy for decades and where the far right is now emerging victorious for the first time, according to polls.
For Moses RuizProfessor of Political Leadership at the European University, the German Chancellor’s shift on immigration is also motivated “by the rise of the extreme right, which makes immigration its flag, and by pressure from the conservative right.” According to him, there are fears that “your political option follows the path of irrelevance”especially after the debacle of the European elections, where Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) was largely overtaken by the conservatives.
“Ahead of the 2025 general election, they are trying to empathize with their traditional voters by being more belligerent against immigration because they know that there is a sociological shift from the working class to the question of immigration,” he suggests. The clearest example of this shift is in the Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht (Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht, BSW), the young German party founded by a former left-wing member of Die Linke who has a strongly anti-immigration position. “He has been able to channel this malaise,” concludes Ruiz.
Europe buys the ultra discourse
However, this is a general trend: both the traditional right and European Social Democracy They adhere to the far-right thesis on migration. At least in words.
Just a few weeks ago, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer applauded “remarkable progress” on immigration issues from his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, the highest representative of the radical right in the EU. Specifically, he expressed interest in the controversial and dubious project. open in Albaniathird countries, two centres to accommodate immigrants rescued in Italian waters.
Migrants aboard an inflatable boat attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, at Slack Dunes beach in Wimereux, France, in September 2024.
A few days later, the leader of the Spanish Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, praised the Italian model, which includes agreements with Libya and Tunisia to close the passage to migrants. A system that has allowed Rome to reduce 60% of the number of arrivals illegal migrants across the Mediterranean. Earlier this summer, amid increased migratory pressure in Ceuta and the Canary Islands, the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchezhardened his speech. In a slight twist of the script, the socialist described “essential” the return to their country of those who arrive irregularly in Spain and have opted for “orderly migration”.
Symbolic measures?
“The electorate has changed and it now counts for much more identity aspects than social issues; that’s why the left has a problem, because it cannot bring a positive or alternative discourse on immigration to that of the right without it being electorally harmful,” he explains. Francesco Pasettisenior researcher in the Migration area of CIDOB and assistant professor at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI).
“In a moment of extreme politicization of the immigration issue and in the face of the proliferation of far-right parties, more restrictive policies are inevitably applied, but they are more symbolic effective in stopping immigration,” he says. The expert is mainly referring to the imposition of temporary border controls. And even if the flows decrease in the short term, in the long term, refugees They usually change their route and take other, more dangerous routes to reach Europe, according to a survey by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
“By worrying about the threat coming from outside, we collapse from within”
Similarly, for the researcher, these policies “attempt to respond quickly to the fear created by the discursive climate.” has serious humanitarian consequences“Studies tell us that when these border measures are taken urgently, international protection protocols that should guarantee the rights of asylum seekers are undermined,” he explains.
But let us remember that they also impact the waterline of the European project: “By worrying about the threat that comes from outside, we are collapsing from within. States are frozen in their national interests and Europe is moving away from unity and solidarity.”
“The immigration issue can only be resolved at European level,” Pasetti believes. The problem is that since the refugee crisis of 2015, the EU has been unable to bring order to the chaos of EU migration policy. At least until last year. A final agreement was then reached on the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, based on Strengthening external borders and the tightening of asylum conditions. However, this measure will not be fully implemented until June 2026.
We will therefore have to wait and see whether the reform will manage to take off before becoming outdated or whether, on the contrary, we will soon see Orbán repeating with other countries the words he addressed to the Germans after the reinstatement of controls: “I told you. Welcome to the club.”.
