Maybe Germany Should Build A Wall

BERLIN — Germany, overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of refugees, reintroduced controls along its border with Austria, in a desperate attempt to defuse a crisis that is testing the limits of European solidarity.

The surprise move, announced late Sunday afternoon by Interior Minister Thomas de Mazière, marks a significant escalation of the crisis. Berlin has effectively suspended the EU’s open borders treaty, which many view as the embodiment of European integration.

Germany expects to take in up to 800,000 asylum seekers this year, quadruple the number in 2014. It is calling on other European countries to accept more refugees, a demand that has met with stiff resistance across much of the continent.

Some countries have refused on cultural and religious grounds, while others cite concerns that Islamic terrorists could be posing as refugees. That has left a handful of countries, including Germany, Austria and Sweden, bearing much of the burden.

The Austrian-German border, which stretches along the southern and eastern frontier of the state of Bavaria, has been the main entry point for asylum seekers to Germany.

It is also the most important economic corridor in Europe, linking Italy and southeastern Europe with Germany and the rest of Europe north of the Alps.

Berlin’s willingness to erect border controls there, risking serious economic repercussions, suggests the crisis has strained Germany’s resources to a much greater degree than it has acknowledged.

Berlin has repeatedly demanded that other European counties, especially those in the east, accept more refugees. So far, however, the calls have gone unheeded, as countries such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland have resisted accepting more than a token number.

For those countries, open borders with Germany allow them unfettered access to Europe’s largest economy, a key economic advantage.

Last week, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel noted the importance of the Schengen agreement to the region’s economy, an unusual threat that underscored Berlin’s frustration with the refusal of governments there to do more.