Joint statement on the announced reintroduction of border checks in Poland’s borders with Germany and Lithuania: stop the dismantling of Schengen!
JEF Europe and JEF Poland
Brussels and Warsaw, 02/07/2025
Key points:
- New controls have been introduced by Poland at the borders with Germany and Lithuania after a long series of European countries taking similar action, slowly dismantling the Schengen achievements.
- Freedom of movement is a key cornerstone of European freedoms, as we celebrated the 40 year anniversary of the Schengen agreement in June.
- JEF Europe and JEF Poland call for the immediate withdrawal of those barriers to re-establish free movement in all European countries.
On Tuesday 1 July, the government of Poland announced the reintroduction of controls at their borders with Germany and Lithuania. According to the Polish authorities, the motivation for this measure is the supposed influx of irregular migrants coming from those two countries. In 2015, many Member States already played the migration card in their push to undermine the Schengen Agreement by establishing internal border controls. Since last year, we are seeing a renewed push to do just the same.
“Poland is the last of many to use this control measure which is causing so much harm to our border communities, cross-border commuters and travellers, as well as businesses. If we are to continue advancing towards a more integrated Union, we need to put an end once and for all to the craze of re-erecting walls between our states” says Xesc Mainzer Cardell, Senior Vice President of the Young European Federalists (JEF Europe).
Even though the European Commission seems to validate this approach, the movement within the EU of irregular migrants should not be acceptable grounds for the temporary introduction of intra Schengen controls under the spirit of the SBC (Schengen Border Code). These border controls criminalise all those who travel across our Union and, in many cases, feature double-standard practices such as racial profiling and discrimination on the basis of nationality.
At a time when citizens express the highest level of trust in EU institutions in the last 18 years, much higher than in their national authorities (Eurobarometer 2025), these nationalist attempts at undermining European freedoms go completely against the desires of a society that majoritarily sees freedom of movement as one of the top achievements of European integration. Thus, we have had enough of anarchic, national-minded measures that restrict everyone’s right to move freely.
“Our shared history with Germany and Lithuania has been marked by conflict, reconciliation, and decades of hard-won cooperation. Reinstating border checks tears at the fabric of that progress and strikes at the heart of European unity. Free movement is not a privilege — it is a right. Undermining Schengen weakens trust, fuels division, and betrays the very values that bind Europe together” reminded Paolo Tinti, Vice President of JEF Poland.
This is why JEF Europe and JEF Poland demand to the government of Poland, but also those of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Sweden to immediately abolish all internal border controls -both those already in place and those announced- to reestablish freedom of movement.
About JEF Europe
The Young European Federalists (JEF) Europe is a non-partisan youth NGO with 10,000 members active in over 35 countries. The organisation strives towards a federal Europe based on the principles of democracy and subsidiarity as well as respect for human rights. JEF promotes true European Citizenship, and works towards more active participation of young people in democratic life. While the umbrella organisation JEF Europe was founded in 1972, its sections have been operating continuously since the end of the Second World War, making it the oldest pro-European and only federalist youth organisation.
JEF Europe has advocated for free movement for decades and started the Don’t Touch My Schengen campaign in 2016, when borders started closing down one after another. It mobilised activists around the continent to protest against restrictions and advocate for our freedom of movement.
About Młodzi Europejscy Federaliści (JEF Poland)
JEF Poland is a youth NGO and the official national section of JEF Europe. We promote European integration, democracy, and active citizenship among young people in Poland. Active in major cities, we defend the rule of law and raise awareness about the EU through campaigns, debates, and educational initiatives.