The Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, has said his country will not take Germany to the European Union’s top court over the extension of border controls on behalf of Berlin.
Recently, the professor of European law at the University of Luxembourg, Jörg Gerkrath, told Luxembourg Wort that he advised the government of Luxembourg to file a complaint with the European Court of Justice as a response to border controls introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Schengen.News reports.
According to the Luxembourg Times report, the professor predicted that the European Court of Justice would likely support Luxembourg in this complaint.
However, Luxembourg’s PM considered this option as “not the right answer”, stressing that it would take several years for the ECJ to issue a finding, by which stage he expressed his hopes that border controls would no longer be the issue to discuss.
“Faeser May Not Be In Office to Further Extend Border Controls”
Germany introduced border controls at its land borders on September 16 in a bid to further strengthen the country’s security.
Back then, Germany said that border controls would be kept in place until March 15, 2025.
The irregular migration and migrant smuggling activities linked to the developing situation and living conditions in migrants’ countries of origin, as well as the strain on the asylum reception system, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and the security situation exacerbated by terrorist groups, particularly in the Middle East; borders with the Republic of Poland, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.
But recently, the German Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, said that border controls may be extended beyond March 15, 2025, arguing that the measure is helping to strengthen security among the bloc.
However, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg is sceptical about these comments. He said that Faeser may not be able to extend border controls further because she may no longer be in office, describing her announcement as an internal political one coming ahead of German elections on February 11.
Luxembourg Not Officially Informed About Potential Extension of Border Controls by Germany
In response to the comments from Germany’s Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, Luxembourg’s Home Affairs Minister, Léon Gloden, told Luxembourg Times that the government has only been informed regarding such a decision through the press.
The Luxembourg government has not yet been officially informed by Germany. Luxembourg disapproves of controls at the internal borders of the Schengen area and is in favour of strengthening controls at the external borders.
The Ministry of Home Affairs of Luxembourg, through a statement, said that unnecessary disruptions to cross-border traffic should be avoided and that the impact on the daily lives of people in Luxembourg must be kept as low as possible.