The border bridge between Frankfurt nad Oder and Słubice looks on Monday, July 7, at least bizarre. On both sides of the Nadodrzeń crossing, the blue flags of the European Union are flying, and the German-bounders are greeted by the inscription: "Frankfurt Oder – Słubice. Ohne Grenzen. Without boundaries". The slogan, which the 2 cities have been advertising together for years, has, however, lost its status. After the German police introduced checks on entering Germany in October 2023, Poland besides restored them from Monday.
She is under the control of the Border Guard, assisted by the Military Gendarmerie and watched by the police on the side of everything. Everything happens under reflection of many tv teams that have come from Poland, Germany and even Switzerland.
Emotions in the Borderland
Controls at the border are based on the decision of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who thus wants to put an end to the alleged "dropping" by Germany of immigrants to Poland, as well as – and may above all – calm social sentiments. How much the subject of migration ignites emotions, you can besides see on the Polish-German border.
– Mr. and Mrs. from a carton! – shouts at the sight of the officers a young man on a bicycle and seemingly agitated drives rapidly past them.
– Controls will make life hard for the residents, we do not see a problem here – says Mrs. Dorota, who my husband and I meet close the border. “This is simply a show, interior manipulation, we don’t feel threatened”, adds her husband, Mr. Arek.
– I'm happy with control, I think it's good. I don't want it to be like Hamburg or Berlin. I was at a organization in Słubice this weekend. I don't know if I would feel so safe on the German side of the border – says Ms Margaret.
"Border defenders" don't let go.
Since the end of June, as with another Polish-German border crossing points, self-proclaimed "citizens" appeared. In Słubice, the number of "watching" border members of the Border Defence Movement (ROG) was not as large as in another places, but besides a fewer people appeared here all day in reflective vests. On the bridge barrier until now you can see anti-immigrant banners in 2 languages: "No! Immigration" and "Stop Immigration".
On Monday morning, there's no ROG on the bridge. It is not until noon that 2 men appear, then a group grows to five. They stand, movie the guards during the inspection, and even laughter at the voice erstwhile at any point, while stopping the vehicle for control, there is simply a harmless car crash.
One of the "defensors of the border", a słubiczan, to questions asked in Polish, consistently answers in German. – due to the fact that you are German media – he throws at DW journalists. Officially, however, he refuses to speak.
Checks yes, but in the woods
You have more to say, Mr. Thomas, besides a Słubic resident. Sam doesn't participate in patrols, but he supports them. The introduction of control by the Polish services is right: – These controls are only due to the fact that the Border Defence Movement forced the Polish government to carry them out. At 1 point the government began to fly down the pole (support). So I think it's fake," says a man dressed in a baseball cap with the inscription "Trump 2024. Take America back". In his opinion, inspections should be carried out in forests. There, as he says, migrants are to be sent to Poland by German police.
“Do you know that Angela Merkel, who caused all this, does not feel safe in Germany and lives in Switzerland?” asks a supporter of Donald Trump and is not convinced that she lives in Switzerland, but Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right alternate organization for Germany (AfD).
Oder: more connect or divide?
Some interlocutors point out that the controls will affect especially young people in both cities. Many of them do not remember border controls prior to Poland's entry into the Schengen area in 2008. The checks returned for a time with the coronavirus pandemic and made the residents of both banks of Oder aware of how much Frankfurt nad Oder and Słubice had come together over the past decades.
- The sentences are divided. On the 1 hand, it's a good thing there are controls, due to the fact that you can thwart any things. On the another hand, they lead to long traffic jams. Many Polish students attend German schools, who are inactive late due to these traffic jams. It is hard to get to Germany – says 17-year-old Lilith from Frankfurt nad Oder, who visited her Polish friend in Słubice on Monday.
Back to Normality
Just this afternoon, supporters of average movement and the resignation of control appeared on the border. 3 men from Frankfurt on Oder brought banners. On 1 of them they wrote in German the words of Pope Francis: "The future is not in isolation", and on another "The city will stay solid". 1 of the men, Jan Augustyniak, fears that freedom of movement under the Schengen Agreement will shortly become obsolete. – By carrying out the activities on its own by subsequent States, obtaining, as an exception, subsequent authorisations for checks, Schengen will yet become unnecessary – says Frankfurter.
On Monday, traffic on the bridge from Frankfurt nad Odra to Słubice takes place smoothly, although the lane occasionally blocks itself erstwhile the Border defender stops the vehicle for control. On this day of the week there is no large movement, which takes place on Fridays, erstwhile many Poles working in Germany return to their homes, and Germans are busy buying in Poland for the weekend.
Only with a passport
In addition to a cross-border bus moving between both cities, transporters and cars with tinted windows, vehicles with more people travelling are besides controlled. any dogs are besides asked to present documents. The control indicator is almost always the appearance: the little European, the more likely the officers will pay attention to specified a person.
For respective hours the guards do not capture anyone who cannot enter or enter Poland. They yet take back 2 Chechens. Women went buying for Słubic. They are amazed because, as they say, they have done so many times. Officers are presented with a photograph paper – a residence licence in Germany. But to get to Poland, they gotta show passports. And these are at home. “I only wanted to buy tomatoes – 1 of the women shrugs her arms and comes back across the bridge to Frankfurt.
Consequences for the Borderland
The mayor of Słubic is besides experiencing hot moments. The door to her office has barely closed for days. Journalists from different countries ask how controls will affect the Polish-German borderlands. It's no different on Monday, erstwhile border controls begin.
– I do not yet know how the controls on the Polish side will develop, but I know how those on the German side that have been with us for respective months – he admits in conversation with DW Marzena Słodowicz, Mayor of Słubic. – They affect badly: from an economical and social point of view, and they besides make life very hard for us in terms of communication.
According to Słodnik, the subject of migration must be addressed and controlled. “But nobody (of the decision makers) truly knows how we live here,” he says. And we live in a two-town, connected river. In fact, this bridge does not divide 2 countries, it is simply a bridge, which is simply a communication road, through which we travel for life, professional, driving children to school. This is our everyday life. The regulations and decisions imposed in advance affect how we will live here. It will surely affect our relationship.
Claus Junghanns, mayor of Frankfurt, has more knowing for control. “I realize the decision of Poland due to the fact that we have been carrying out checks on the German side for a year and a half, and Poles regularly tell us that they do not like it, that they do not agree to it. This step shows me in the end that we haven't talked adequate so that we can avoid border controls," says DW. – In this case, "hard heads" in Warsaw and Berlin should find solutions to carry out inspections, but so as to make the regular lives of local people as hard as possible.
