Germany has spent €80.5 million on land border control operations between mid-September 2024 and the end of June 2025, according to figures released by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The measures, initially introduced as a temporary exception to the Schengen Area’s free movement rules, have since been repeatedly extended.
The expenditure covers a wide range of costs, including €24 to €29.1 million per quarter for deploying federal police along internal borders.
Between April and June 2025 alone, the government paid €8 million for meals and hotel accommodation for police officers, almost €3 million in allowances for working unsociable hours, €2.6 million for administrative and operational resources, and around €2 million for running border checkpoints.
Overtime pay represented the largest single expense, amounting to €37.9 million during the period from September 2024 to June 2025.
Former Interior Minister Nancy Faeser first imposed the land border checks in September 2024, citing the need to curb irregular migration and combat cross-border crime.
Her successor, Alexander Dobrindt, intensified these measures upon taking office in May 2025, announcing further extensions beyond September this year and introducing a policy of turning away asylum seekers directly at the border.
Between 8 May and 4 August 2025, federal police refused entry to 493 people who had expressed an intention to seek asylum in Germany.
Critics, including opposition figures, have condemned the policy as unlawful and harmful to both travelers and asylum seekers.
They argue that it creates traffic congestion in border regions, adds unnecessary burdens for regular cross-border commuters, and results in excessively high costs for the federal government.
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