08/14/2025August 14, 2025
Germany’s heightened border checks cost over €80 million
heightened border checks with its neighboring countries have cost the government at least €80.5 million ($93.4 million) so far, the German Funke Media Group of newspapers reported on Thursday based on German Interior Ministry data.
The border checks began on September 16, 2024 under previous center-left . These checks have continued under his successor, , who took office on May 6.
According to the Funke Media Group reports, the most expensive part of the border checks is the compensation for police officers who are performing the inspections. The cost of overtime work for the officers from September 2024 to June 2025 was €37.9 million.
On a quarterly basis, the border checks cost between €24 to €29.1 million.
The German Interior Ministry said from April to June of this year, €2.6 million was spent on “working at inconvenient times.” The officers at the checkpoints are working 24/7, which means they have to be paid for more costly night and Sunday shifts.
Around €8 million was spent on hotels and catering for officers employed in the border checks from April to June. The operation of the border stations cost a little under €2 million during that same time frame.
German border checks spark controversy
Border checks within Europe’s free movement Schengen Area are only expected to be temporary.
Germany has implemented the checks to combat irregular migration and crime, with Merz’s government seeking to use the checks to turn back migrants at the German borders. As many as 14,000 German federal officers are employed at the border checkpoints across the country.
Germany borders several major European economies, such as , and the . The border checks have made life more complicated for daily commuters who go back and forth between Germany and other European countries for work or to study.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a member of the conservative Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU) party, wants to .
Members of the opposition socialist and have criticized Germany’s European border checks as “illegal” and have called for them to end.
The post Germany updates: Border checks cost over €80 million appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
