German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Friday acknowledged the strain that the country's police had been put under by the reintroduction of land border checks.
Germany has had checks at all its land borders since September 2024. These were intensified in May last year by Dobrindt, who became interior minister as part of a new conservative-led government.
The temporary measures have since been extended three times and are now set to remain in place until mid-September.
The checks have been controversial in Europe. Within the Schengen Area, which encompasses most EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, there is meant to be free movement across borders.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the federal police force in Potsdam outside Berlin, Dobrindt said he had not been entirely sure at the time whether the police were in a position or willing to carry out the task.
However, the border checks should "not be a permanent arrangement," he said.
Since its founding as the Federal Border Guard in 1951, the police force has continuously evolved. Its main tasks now include protecting rail traffic, securing Germany's maritime border and ensuring aviation security at airports.
The ceremony came on the same day that the EU tightened its migration policy, intended to improve procedures at Europe's external borders.
