Expense on border control measures amounts to EUR 80.5 million.
In a span of nine months from mid-September 2024 to the end of June 2025, Germany spent approximately €80.5 million on land border control operations. This figure, reported by the Funke media group and the German Press Agency, provides a detailed breakdown of the costs:
- Overtime pay, the largest single expense, amounted to €37.9 million, covering additional operational hours for personnel during the period.
- Federal police deployment along internal borders cost between €24 million and €29.1 million per quarter.
- Meals and hotel accommodations for police officers totalled €8 million between April and June 2025.
- Allowances for officers working nights, weekends, and holidays amounted to nearly €3 million.
- Administrative and operational resources, including logistics and support costs, amounted to €2.6 million.
- The operation of border checkpoints cost around €2 million.
The justification for these border controls was initially presented by former Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in September 2024 as a temporary exception to Schengen free movement, aimed at curbing irregular migration and combating cross-border crime. The measures were repeatedly extended and intensified under her successor, Alexander Dobrindt, who introduced policies including turning away asylum seekers directly at the border.
Critics have raised concerns about the policy's legality, its impact on travelers and asylum seekers, increased traffic congestion in border regions, burdens on cross-border commuters, and the high financial costs for the federal government.
Alexander Hoffmann, the chairman of the CSU parliamentary group, defended the border controls and thanked the federal police for their commitment. He stated that the costs for the border controls are justified and they will continue these controls until the European asylum system and external border protection are functioning.
However, Clara Bunger, the interior expert of the Left Party, described the federal government's approach as a "rights-violating border-closed policy". She called for an immediate end to border controls due to causing traffic chaos in border regions, burdening border commuters, and enormous costs.
The border controls and turnbacks are planned to continue beyond September 2025. It is important to note that no specific information was provided about the costs for the months before April 2025.
This spending report has sparked a heated debate in German politics, with critics accusing the government of disregarding the rights of asylum seekers and causing unnecessary hardship for border communities, while supporters argue that the measures are necessary to maintain security and control migration.
- The high financial costs associated with the border controls, reaching approximately €80.5 million, have stirred controversy within the political landscape of Germany, as critics claim the government disregards the rights of asylum seekers and burdens border communities.
- While the chairman of the CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Hoffmann, defends the continuation of the border controls, citing the need to maintain security and manage migration, the Left Party's interior expert, Clara Bunger, views the federal government's approach as a "rights-violating border-closed policy."
- The financing of this operation involved various elements such as overtime pay, federal police deployment, meals and accommodations, allowances, administrative costs, and operation of border checkpoints, with transportation, industry, finance, and the business sectors potentially impacted by these costs and the subsequent traffic congestion in border regions.
