Foreign Office issues travel warnings for TWO European countries
The Foreign Office has issued urgent new "travel advice" for UK tourists travelling to TWO European Union holiday hotspots. Holidaymakers and tourists have been warned over driving to Czech Republic and Germany amid a rule change.
On Wednesday, a new alert was issued for the Czech Republic as a post from the Foreign Office on X said: "Read our latest travel advice update for #CzechRepublic about new information on travelling from the Czech Republic to Germany".
A temporary reintroduction of border controls are currently in place at Germany’s land borders, it said. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said: "We are taking concrete action to reinforce our internal security, and we are taking a hard line against irregular migration. We are continuing to pursue this course. Until the new Common European Asylum System and other measures ensure strong protection for the EU’s external borders, we must also do more to control our national borders.
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"These border control measures include effective refusals of entry at the border – more than 30,000 people have been denied entry at the land borders with Poland, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic just since October 2023. That is why we will expand our temporary border control to include all of Germany’s land borders, as I ordered today. My order is also intended to protect against the acute threat of Islamist extremist terrorism and serious cross-border crime. We are doing everything in our power to protect the people of our country against these threats. This includes the wide-ranging measures we are now taking.
“The Federal Police can now apply the complete package of stationary and mobile border policing measures along the entire German border. I am extremely grateful to the officers of the Federal Police for their strong commitment to policing the border. These efforts are only possible because we have increased funding and added a thousand officers each year, and we will continue to do so.
“Coordinating with our neighbouring countries remains our high priority, as does minimising the impacts on commuters and on daily life in the border regions as far as possible."
In another update, it explained: "From November 2024, the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) will start for all non-EU nationals, including British nationals, travelling in or out of the Schengen area. The Schengen area is made up of 29 European countries, 25 of which are EU Member States. The EES is a digital border system which registers non-EU visitors travelling into the Schengen area instead of stamping their passports.
"You will need to have your fingerprints and your photo taken when entering the Schengen area. If you enter the Schengen area through Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone or St Pancras International, your fingerprints and photo will be taken before you leave the UK. You will also need to provide either your fingerprint or photo on exit.
"You may experience longer queues at borders when the new system starts."