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German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Saturday lashed out against EU officials for pushing back against his government’s plans to temporarily reinstate controls on its borders with Austria and the Czech Republic.
“We are fighting the mutated virus on the border with the Czech Republic and Austria,” Seehofer told Germany’s BILD tabloid. “The EU Commission should support us and not put spokes in our wheels with cheap advice.”
Earlier this week, the German government designated the Czech Republic and the Austrian region of Tyrol as so-called “mutation areas,” due to a high instance of coronavirus cases caused by a variant of the virus.
According to reports in BILD and Der Spiegel, the European Commission requested that Germany’s new rules make an exception for commuters, among others.
At a daily press briefing on Friday, a spokesperson for the Commission said the German government had not yet notified it about the planned border controls, which are expected to enter into force Sunday.
“We urge Germany to implement these measures fully in line with the Council recommendations,” the Commission spokesperson said Friday, adding that the Commission expected EU countries to follow a previously agreed common approach to travel restrictions and to avoid border closures and blanket travel bans.
Seehofer also criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides for their handling of the vaccine rollout across the Continent. “That’s enough,” Seehofer said. “The Commission has made enough mistakes when ordering vaccines in the last few months.”
As of Sunday, German authorities will conduct random checks on the border and travelers from certain areas of Austria and the Czech Republic who cannot present proof of a negative COVID-19 test can be turned away, ARD reported.
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