German Embassy reacts to Topolánek’s remarks that German police are ‘bullying’ Czechs

The German Embassy in Prague has spoken out against claims made by Czech PM Mirek Topolánek that police checks near the Czech-German border are tantamount to ‘bullying’ and ‘a breach of Schengen protocol’. The Czech Republic joined the Schengen zone in December last year, and since that time, Czechs have been enjoying passport free travel over the border to Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Poland. Border checks have given way to random checks within a 30 kilometre radius of the Czech Republic’s borders with its neighbours, including Germany. A report recently published by the Centre for European Policy Studies suggested that German police were targeting Czechs and Poles in particular in their checks. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek condemned German police on the basis of this report at a Schengen-related event at the end of March. But on Monday, the German Embassy responded that checks by police and customs officials along the EU internal border were ‘useful and important’.