Belgians puzzled and displeased as Germany brings back border controls

"In the 1980s, we had to get off the bus and they checked all our passports," said one Belgian citizen. "We're not going back to that time, are we?"

Transcript

00:00Germany's decision to reintroduce controls at all its land borders for the next six months

00:07has not gone down well with those who often cross those borders, like the inhabitants

00:11of Eupen, capital of the German-speaking Belgian East, a few kilometers from the border.

00:17Many go shopping in Germany because the shops are cheaper and bigger.

00:21The truck drivers who pass through the border, however, seem resigned to losing a few more

00:48minutes.

00:49Controls are already used to controls at other borders, which have been in place for several

00:52months now, especially those driving between Eastern European countries or from the United

00:57Kingdom, and are now, after Brexit, often forced to show their cargo.

01:02Since Brexit, we've found with the Germans that they've been pretty good.

01:09Sometimes less than 15 minutes, you can have your paperwork in and be on your way again.

01:14The border checks make a special impression on people who lived in the era before the

01:29Schengen area, and remember the long procedures at European borders then, like this Flemish

01:35lady travelling to visit some German cities with her daughter.

01:40When I was studying, we went to visit Berlin, and there we saw the division between the

01:46two parts of the town, and now when I heard the news, I thought they are not going to

01:52return to that time, because that was very...

01:58I found that very impressive, and then we had to go off from the bus, and they controlled

02:05our passports, and they controlled the bus, and they controlled our luggage.

02:10It was the years 1980 when I was there, and now I thought, are they going to return to

02:20that time?

02:22No.

02:23In 2024 alone, ten countries in the Schengen area introduced controls at some of their

02:28borders, citing the fight against terrorism or controlling irregular immigration as their

02:34reasons.