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EU Observer (7 July 2025)

Nikolaj Nielsen

The latest introduction by Poland on Monday (7 July) of border checks with neighbouring Germany and Lithuania adds to the long list of similar Schengen closures over the years, totalling 472 notifications since 2006.

Up until 2015, member states had only issued 35 such notifications to the European Commission, now posing questions on the survival of a border-free zone that spans 29 countries and some 400 million people.

From late 2015 onwards, the primary reason for such closures were linked to irregular migration, followed by covid lockdowns during the pandemic, and Russia security threats.

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