Poland Announces Border Checks with Germany and Lithuania from July 7

Poland will introduce temporary border checks at its borders with Germany and Lithuania starting on July 7, announced Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday (1.7.25). The measure is deemed “necessary to limit and reduce to a minimum these uncontrolled flows” of migrants, he said during a press briefing. The announcement follows a meeting of the Council of Ministers and comes after Germany recently intensified its own border controls, a policy introduced after the new German government led by Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz took office in May. Under this policy, German border officials have been instructed to deny entry to undocumented migrants—even those seeking asylum—a move that has drawn criticism from Poland. Despite a court ruling prohibiting the rejection of asylum seekers at the border, the German government plans to continue with this approach.