GERMANY: German border police protest against job cuts when Poland joins Schengen treaty next month

Some 500 German border police and supporters have staged a protest at the Polish frontier. They are opposed to planned job cuts when Poland joins the Schengen treaty on December 21. Hundreds of police and citizens have taken to the streets in a German-Polish border town to protest against job cuts expected when Poland joins the Schengen Treaty. More than 500 border police and their supporters gathered on Thursday (November 22) at Frankfurt/Oder to protest the plans. A spokesman for Germany's police union GdP said that reforms planned by the German interior ministry would mean personnel numbers would be cut by nearly half. "On December 21 of this year, the border here will be opened when Poland joins the Schengen treaty," GdP spokesman lars Wendland told Reuters Television. "At the same time, our interior minister would like to push through reforms for the border police forces which would mean, as far as we know right now, that almost half the number of personnel would be cut," he said. Wendland refuted arguments that the border police were trying to create panic among German residents living along the Polish border who feared a rise in crime once border posts are abolished. "I spoke to residents around here and I spoke to shopkeepers in the area: people are scared," Wendland said. "They are not scared because we are allegedly saying that crime would rise. They are just scared." Juerg Pilz, a resident of Frankfurt/Oder, seemed to believe that all criminals came from across the border. "There is fear among the population," Pilz said. "That's logical. Before, as a shopkeeper you were able to call the border if something was stolen from your shop. There was this security measure installed. That will obviously no longer be the case. Where should they call to now?" he asked. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Malta are all joining the Schengen treaty on December Once joined member nations apply common external border controls and a common visa policy, and share a police database on criminals and lost cars. Citizens will be able to travel to and from each other without showing their passports.

ITN Source | November 24, 2007

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