00:00The placid river Oda that separates Poland and Germany.
00:04Looking across from Swubice on the Polish side, the skyline of the German city of Frankfurt
00:09Oda is very near.
00:11But from Monday, the traffic over the bridge into Poland has been moving especially slowly.
00:17That's because of increased checks on vehicles and people crossing from Germany.
00:22The Polish government says the measure is a response to illegal migration, but the mayor
00:27of Swubice sounds unhappy about the move.
00:30We live in one city, two cities connected by a river.
00:35And in fact the bridge is not a bridge that divides two countries.
00:39This is a bridge that is our communication route, thanks to which we can move.
00:46At this and more than a dozen other border crossing points between the two countries, Polish border
00:51guards and police are picking out vehicles to stop.
00:55Those who want to cross need an identity card or a passport.
00:58The tougher checks follow similar measures on the German side.
01:03And many Germans who travel regularly to Poland are concerned that will become even more difficult.
01:09It is a restriction of our everyday lives because there have been border controls here on the
01:14German side for a year and a half and now also from the Polish side as of today.
01:19We will feel it, we are already feeling it.
01:22Some asylum seekers have been refused entry by German authorities.
01:26A sensitive issue in Poland where right-wing activists have been spreading the rumour that
01:31Germany is using its neighbour as a dumping ground for rejected asylum seekers.
01:37For now Polish reactions to the Czechs are mixed.
01:40What's happening on the streets of Berlin or other European cities, we don't want that here.
01:47That's a fact.
01:48I see of course that now there are more people from countries that are further away,
01:55but I don't feel it as a threat to me personally.
01:58To us it looks like a politically controlled set-up.
02:05We believe these Czechs do not bring any real impact.
02:08I understand that we have to watch over migration, that we have to control it.
02:15But as Poles, as Germans, as Europeans, we have to find solutions that will be systemic for the
02:21entire European Union so that we do not weaken ourselves.
02:28Even here, in the twin cities on the River Oda, where the idea of Europe's open borders is especially
02:35important, many on both sides worry that a new era of separation is beginning.
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