Police officers with machine guns guard the German border. The uniformed officers stop and check fans arriving by car and bus one after the other.
Border controls have been tightened in Germany, where more than 22,000 federal police ensure order on the streets during the European Championship. The aim of the measures is to filter out criminals and illegal immigrants, and to prevent potential violent offenders from entering the country. In addition, Islamist and radical groups are constantly monitored to prevent terrorist acts.
During the European football championship in Germany, the police presence was increased both on the streets and at border crossings.
"With the re-introduction of border controls, we have a double task: on the one hand, we will continue to monitor immigration, and on the other hand, we will check the arriving fans and filter out those who might be a problem, even before they arrive at the venue of the matches," explained police chief Frank Malack.
Cars that require further inspection can be examined more thoroughly in an isolation tent: thanks to this, crossing the border is quick and smooth for the majority, but the police can also do a thorough job.
In addition to the fans coming to the European Championship, they are already trying to filter out criminals and those who would enter Germany illegally during the tournament:
between the seventh and the thirteenth of June, more than 900 unauthorized entries were prevented at the border crossings.
"The purpose of the inspections is, on the one hand, to screen out potential violent offenders as soon as possible and deny them entry. On the other hand, we are also looking for politically motivated violent criminals who would enter the country because of the European Championship. In addition to them, we want to filter out, for example, drug dealers or people and weapons smugglers," explained Christian Neubert, the police chief of a town near the Dutch border.
The authorities have a lot to do not only at the border, but also inside Germany: they keep Islamist and radical groups under constant surveillance.
"A coordination center has been established in North Rhine-Westphalia, where hundreds of specialists, hundreds of security specialists take care of security. A radical branch of the terrorist organization called the Islamic State has an English-language publication, in which they constantly call for attacks.
Among other things, a picture of a stadium was made public, with a terrorist with a machine gun in the center of it, and pictures of the Munich, Berlin and Dortmund stadiums were also published, so there is a lot of preparation in Germany.
- reported Katalin Noll, correspondent for Híradót.
The final of the European Championship will be held on Sunday, July 14, in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The increased border checks will be in effect for a few days longer, until July 19.
Cover photo: A man is pulled over by the police at the main train station in Cologne
Source: MTI/EPA/Sascha Steinbach
