Schengen Border Checks: Current Status – Europe 2024
- The Schengen area, a zone guaranteeing free movement for millions of EU citizens, residents, and visitors, recently marked its 40th anniversary.
- The border-free zone began with five countries agreeing to gradually eliminate internal border checks.
- The Schengen area covers over 4.5 million square kilometers with a population of nearly 450 million, according to the EU Council website.
Several Schengen countries have temporarily reinstated border controls, impacting travelers and raising questions about the future of free movement. This article from News Directory 3 details the nations involved, including Austria, Denmark, France, and Germany, outlining the specific reasons for these checks, such as heightened security risks, irregular migration, and major events. We analyze the Schengen Borders Code and the duration of these measures. Understand the latest developments in european border security and how these changes affect you. Discover what’s next…
Schengen Area: Which countries Have Reinstated Border Checks?
Updated June 14, 2025
The Schengen area, a zone guaranteeing free movement for millions of EU citizens, residents, and visitors, recently marked its 40th anniversary. However, several nations have reimposed border checks.
The border-free zone began with five countries agreeing to gradually eliminate internal border checks. Today, the Schengen area includes 25 of the 27 EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The Schengen area covers over 4.5 million square kilometers with a population of nearly 450 million, according to the EU Council website. Approximately 3.5 million people cross internal Schengen borders daily for work, study, or leisure, and almost 1.7 million reside in one Schengen country while employed in another.
The Schengen Borders Code allows for temporary reintroduction of internal border checks when a “serious threat to public policy or internal security” exists, such as a major sporting event or a terrorist attack.
These checks should be a “last resort,” limited to the period “strictly necessary,” and not exceed six months. In exceptional cases, controls can be reintroduced for a maximum of two years.
here’s a list of countries that currently have temporary border controls in place, according to the european Commission:
- Austria: Land borders with Hungary and Slovenia until Nov.11, 2025, due to threats associated with irregular migration, strain on asylum systems, and the war in Ukraine. Land borders with Slovakia and Czechia until Oct. 15, 2025, for similar reasons.
- Bulgaria: Land borders with Romania until June 30, 2025, due to security risks related to illegal migration.
- Denmark: Land and sea borders with Germany until Nov. 11, 2025, due to threats to public policy and internal security posed by possible sabotage actions from Russia, and also continuous terrorism-related events and organised crime.
- France: All internal borders (land, air, and sea) with Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Swiss Confederation, Spain, and Italy until Oct. 31, 2025, due to persistent jihadist threats, a rise in antisemitic attacks, growing criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and smuggling, and irregular migration flows.
- Germany: Land borders with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, and Poland until sept. 15, 2025, due to continued high levels of irregular migration and migrant smuggling, and the impact of the global security situation.
- Italy: land borders with Slovenia until Dec. 18, 2025, due to the continued threat of terrorist infiltrations, ongoing crises in the Middle east and Ukraine, high level of irregular migration, and heightened security risks associated with the Universal Jubilee of the Catholic Church.
- Netherlands: Land and air borders with Belgium and Germany until Dec.8, 2025, due to high levels of asylum applications, irregular migration, migrant smuggling, and secondary movements.
- Norway: Ports with ferry connections to the Schengen area until Nov. 11, 2025, due to a general threat aimed at the energy sector and threats of sabotage.
- Slovenia: Land borders with Croatia and Hungary until Dec. 21, 2025, due to terrorist threats, organized crime, and hybrid threats from the Russian Federation and Belarus.
- Spain: Land borders with France and Portugal, internal air borders of Alicante, Almería, Barcelona, Bilbao, Girona, Granada, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Sevilla and Valencia; internal maritime borders of Barcelona, Málaga and Palma de Mallorca until July 5, 2025, for the IV United National International Conference on Financing for Progress in Sevilla.
- Sweden: All internal borders (land, air, and sea) and land borders with Denmark until Nov. 11, 2025, due to serious threats to public policy and internal security arising from organised cross-border crime and terrorism.
What’s next
Travelers within the Schengen area should be aware of these temporary border controls and be prepared to show identification if requested. The situation remains fluid, and the duration of these checks may be subject to change.