Minister Asselborn Calls for Abolition of Border Controls between Luxembourg, Germany

Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs has called for the abolition of border controls between Germany and the Grand Duchy. 

Against the background of the border closings and controls at Germany's national borders with Luxembourg, Minister Asselborn wrote a letter this morning to the Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community, Horst Seehofer. In his letter, Jean Asselborn addressed the severe impairments to cross-border coexistence and the regional economy that have arisen as a result of the internal border controls that were reintroduced on 16 March 2020.

According to Minister Asselborn, the development of the epidemiological situation in Luxembourg is in no way a threat to the neighbouring regions and there is therefore no apparent reason to continue to maintain internal border controls with Luxembourg. "On the contrary, border closings and controls are causing increasing resentment among the population on both sides of the border and risk permanently damaging cross-border coexistence in the greater region," he said.

In his letter, Jean Asselborn thus spoke out against further extending internal border controls with Luxembourg, maintaining that: "This would not only send an important signal to the citizens of our European model region, but also with regard to the gradual reinstatement of the Schengen Agreement, which is one of the greatest achievements of the European unification process".