Germany extends border controls and considers refusing asylum seekers

Germany imposes border control at all of its land borders starting on Monday, including newly installed check points at the entrances from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark.

This comes after a 26-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker fatally stabbed three people in the town of Solingen last month. Violent incidents helped create massive support for far-right parties in two regional elections. Now another state election is around the corner in Brandenburg - and polls show migration is the top concern among voters.

Simone just passed Piding - Germany's main border crossing to Austria - where random police checks have been in place since 2015. "I think border checks are good for Germany because lots of illegal people are here," she tells CGTN.

‌On the other hand, Francesco, coming from Italy, thinks this is a weakness for the European community – "Because we opened all the borders, so closing it is a step back."

‌Every day, 25,000 vehicles pass the border crossing in Piding alone. Hundreds of thousands more travel through Germany's other crossings - which are now all subject to police checks.

‌But some of Germany's neighbors are concerned over the impact the new measures will have on their own countries. Whether German police will start refusing to accept asylum seekers at its borders is still unclear. Negotiations between the government and opposition parties have been turbulent.

‌"We will do everything possible to refuse entry within the framework of the law," German chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday. "We have offered proposals for effective entry refusal, and are prepared to work with the opposition."

But Germany's southern neighbor Austria is concerned over the effects of the new border arrangements - and insists its policies will remain the same.

"We will not take in anyone who has been refused illegal entry to Germany," Austria's interior minister Gerhard Karner said. "We have been very clear about this and as far as Austria is concerned this is non-negotiable."

In the first half of this year, illegal migrant crossings into Germany actually fell by 7 percent, compared to the same period last year. The new controls on Germany's western and northern border are initially scheduled to be in place for just six months.

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday