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"I'm old enough to remember internal borders with passport checks in Europe" Did you recently crossed borders? On many the checks are there again, because of f
by lukan 6mo ago
"I'm old enough to remember internal borders with passport checks in Europe"
Did you recently crossed borders? On many the checks are there again, because of fear of immigration terrorism or something, so the people could see, politicians were doing something to make them feel safe (but what I could see when passing borders, especially between poland and germany, were looong lines of trucks, so much for free flowing goods).
Not sure of the current situation, though, but last summer and autumn was horrible with checks (probably still better than what was before, but having experienced the real open border situation, having them restricted again is frustrating).
- 11mariom 6mo agoNot the same extent like it was before… Now most of the times is just slowed down traffic (quick glance who's in car and move on), and more than that I was maybe stopped two times for quick chit-chat (where/why I'm heading). And I crossed, multiple times, borders of DK (they had checks since 2018?), DE, A, IT, CH, CZ… Quick ID check happened once - when I was traveling with bus across border. Back in a days it was a lot, lot slower and more detailed.
- lukan 6mo ago"Back in a days it was a lot, lot slower and more detailed." Oh for sure, I have childhood memories of the really dark time, but it is way worse now, than it was back in 2015. I missed flixbus connections because of intense checks and changed vacation plans avoiding long waiting times at borders within EU (my recommendation, cross at night).
- Haemm0r 6mo agoFlixbus are a primary target for those inspections...
- archleaf 6mo agoIs this something new within the last year? I just travelled on Flixbus across Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland and received no checks. Is it only certain countries?
- ben_w 6mo ago> Is it only certain countries? Every country can choose independently, and for each border. From a cursory search, it appears e.g. Poland currently only checks the borders with Germany and Lithuania. You'd have missed any checks on your specific trio, if this list was true at the time: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/schengen-area/temporary-reintroduction-border-control_en https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/schengen...
- _DeadFred_ 6mo agoYour current state is how Canada used to be from the US. Early 2000s we just showed drivers licenses. Went camping, up to Nelson. Then it got less friendly (US side) then passports required. To the point we stopped going. It sucks when politicians make our world smaller as in 'we have access to less' instead of smaller as in 'it's a small world after all'.
- jandrewrogers 6mo agoNot just Canada but all of North America. I used to go into Mexico with my friends as a teenager to find trouble. No passport or adult supervision required. I'm surprised how quickly people have forgotten that North America was a giant open border zone until very recently. You only needed a passport to travel overseas. In hindsight that was actually a pretty unique arrangement.
- brabel 6mo agoIf you miss the old days, try the bus from Vilnius to Minsk. It’s a full on border control just like in the times of the Soviet Union. Only 35 km away from an European Union capital city.
- CupricTea 6mo agoI was just in Europe this February. I took a bus from France to Germany and customs checked the passports of everyone on board.
- eloisant 6mo agoTry going to Switzerland by car (from France for example), and you'll see what an actual border check is. Pretty different from having a chance to be stopped by a random check while crossing.
- lukan 6mo agoHm, I went there multiple times from different directions, including france last year and at most had to show ID, but was usually waived on. It really depends I guess.