Germany to put temporary controls on all land borders, source says

Germany to put temporary controls on all land borders, source says

World

Interior Minister is scheduled to hold a press conference on security measures

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BERLIN (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will on Monday announce temporary border controls at all of Germany's land borders in order to tackle irregular migration and protect the public from Islamist extremism, a government source told Reuters.

Faeser, who is scheduled to hold a press conference on a package of security measures at 1430 GMT, will notify the European Commission of the plans, the source said.

The German government has been consulting with the main opposition CDU party on ways to curb migration in the face of public concern and following a deadly knife attack by a Syrian asylum seeker last month in the city of Solingen.

Last week, the anti-immigration AfD party won state elections in Thuringia and came second in Saxony.

Faeser's Social Democrats face upcoming state elections in Brandenburg in two weeks, where the party governs in coalition with the Greens and Christian Democrats.

Germany shares its over 3,700-kilometre-long (2,300 miles) land border with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Germany last year announced stricter controls on its land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in response to a sharp increase in first-time asylum requests.