"We will not take anyone back": Austria criticizes planned rejections

But now Germany's neighbors are facing opposition. "We will not take back anyone who has been rejected by a neighboring country outside of a lawful procedure," Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) told "Welt am Sonntag." He added: "The legal framework was established by the European Court of Justice, which ruled that an informal rejection is not legally possible when an asylum application is submitted. The German authorities must first conduct an investigation."

There is also criticism from Poland. Poland's chief diplomat in Berlin, Jan Tombińsk, describes the current border controls as "a problem for daily border traffic and the functioning of the EU internal market." For this reason, he appeals to the future government: "We therefore do not want to see any tightening of border controls."

Asked whether Poland would accept the rejection of migrants, Tombinski said that Poland stands by its "obligations under EU legislation," including the new CEAS asylum policy. It will be "difficult to explain to the people of Poland that we are investing in our external border while simultaneously getting tightened controls at the German border," the diplomat further warned.

Frei, who is likely to become the next head of the Chancellery, recently backtracked somewhat. He argued that stricter border controls must be limited to a specific period of time. "It's about intensive controls over a short period of time, because we don't want to permanently restrict freedom of movement within the EU or suspend the Schengen Agreement," he said.

The CDU/CSU and SPD have agreed in their coalition agreement to continue controls at all German borders and to reject asylum seekers . This should be done "in coordination with our European neighbors." For the SPD, this requires the consent of the affected countries; CDU/CSU representatives had previously considered such consent unnecessary.