German border checks are damaging the country's friendly relations with the Netherlands, according to the mayor of the Dutch city of Nijmegen, Hubert Bruls.
"When temporary border checks were introduced in 2024, I could still understand the need for them," Bruls, who is also chairman of the Rhine-Waal Euroregion border association, told dpa.
"But we’ve had them for almost two years now, and they are now straining relations between our two countries."
Germany introduced checks at all of its external borders on September 16, 2024, in an effort to curb the number of unauthorized entries into the EU country. The checks have been extended three times, most recently until mid-September 2026, but Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has said he intends to keep the measure in place despite declining numbers of asylum seekers.
Germany is part of the EU's Schengen visa-free travel area, where such checks can only to be introduced as temporary measures.
The controls have resulted in long traffic jams on the Dutch side of the border, as well as an increase in temporary infrastructure.
Bruls said the waiting times are a daily nuisance for commuters and businesses in the region, costing them a lot of time and money.
However, he is even more concerned about bilateral relations between Germany and the Netherlands. "Our two countries have gone through very dark periods in their long history, but over the last 80 years our relationship has become ever closer and friendlier. And that is now under threat," he said.
Bruls also considers the checks to be largely ineffective as there are many other points along the border where people can cross without facing border authorities.
German police said 1,867 people have been turned back along the Dutch border with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia between September 16, 2024 and April 30 this year.
