Czech Republic, Tyrol and Slovakia: Germany locks out three EU countries

Czech Republic, Tyrol and Slovakia
Germany locks out three EU countries

From Sunday, Germany closes its borders for citizens from the Czech Republic, Tyrol and Slovakia. The EU really wanted to avoid this, but Interior Minister Seehofer harshly rejects the admonitions from Brussels. Doctors justify the precautionary measures with mutation accumulations in Bavaria.

After the spread of new virus variants, Germany tightened the rules for entry from several EU countries and in some cases also ordered stationary border controls. In addition to the Czech Republic and Tyrol in Austria, a transport ban will also apply to Slovakia from Sunday due to the corona pandemic. The federal government classified the EU country as an area with particularly dangerous virus mutations, as the Robert Koch Institute announced on its website. This means that airlines as well as bus and train companies are no longer allowed to transport passengers from Slovakia to Germany. Exceptions are German citizens and foreigners living in Germany.

Already now, mutants are found in well over ten percent of infected people in Bavaria – more than twice as many as in Germany as a whole, said Munich-based infectious agent Clemens Wendtner. Above all, he warned against the introduction of the dangerous South African coronavirus variant from Tyrol. That can only be prevented with a strict approach at the border, said the chief physician for infectious diseases at Munich Clinic Schwabing. If seamless controls do not work, all that remains is to close the borders. "We are dealing with the South African variant. As far as we know, it is even more dangerous than the British variant," said Wendtner. It is not only more infectious, but according to initial findings also more deadly – and some vaccines are less effective against it. Even those who already had Corona could probably get infected again. The rate of secondary infections will therefore likely increase.

Mutation in commuters from the Czech Republic

The British variant has already gained the upper hand in some eastern Bavarian regions with commuters from the Czech Republic. According to Wendtner, the proportion of mutants in positive cases is sometimes over 40 percent. Border controls with the Czech Republic and Tyrol are therefore indispensable in the opinion of Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder. "We are for a free Europe", but in the pandemic security must be on top, he said in his government statement in the Bavarian state parliament in Munich. The stationary border controls could be set up in the night from Saturday to Sunday.

Representatives of various ministries in Berlin are currently discussing which exceptions should be made for travelers from the Czech Republic and Tyrol (with the exception of the Lienz district, the Jungholz community and the Riss valley). Among other things, it is about the exact rules for individual traffic, for example if someone wants to cross the border in their own car.

On Thursday, Germany classified the Czech Republic and the state of Tyrol as virus mutation areas due to the increased occurrence of mutated corona viruses. In addition, the Federal Ministry of the Interior ordered border controls from Sunday in order to enforce the related transport and entry bans. By and large, one will probably orientate oneself on the regulations that already exist for entries from other so-called virus mutation areas such as Portugal or Great Britain, it said. In principle, only Germans, foreigners residing in Germany as well as medical staff and – under certain conditions – transit passengers are allowed to enter from there. Delivery traffic should also continue to be allowed, but possibly combined with the obligation for truck drivers to present a negative corona test.

Seehofer: "Don't watch how mutation spills over"

The EU Commission asked Germany to grant exceptions for commuters, for example. A spokesman for the authority recalled that the EU states had only recently agreed on joint recommendations for traveling in Corona times. Expect all countries to act accordingly. Border closings and blanket travel bans should be avoided. You are therefore calling on Germany to allow exceptions at least for essential trips and for cross-border commuters.

Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer rejected the admonitions from Brussels. "Health protection has top priority. Admonitions from Brussels do not help. The protective measures taken in Germany are effective," says Seehofer. Germany has slowed the infection process. "But in our neighborhood we are seeing a worrying development in virus mutations. The commission itself points out that stricter rules are permissible in these cases." He firmly rejects the Commission's request to allow more exemptions. "We're not going to stand idly by as the virus mutation spills over to us." In Slovakia, the number of infections has risen so dramatically since October that experts are warning of an impending collapse of the health system.

. (tagsToTranslate) Politics (t) Coronavirus Mutation (t) Border closings (t) EU (t) Slovenia (t) Czech Republic (t) Austria (t) Horst Seehofer