Germany plans border controls for soccer Euros tournament

Reuters

Published Mar 26, 2024 09:18

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will introduce temporary border controls as part of ramped-up security around soccer's 2024 European Championship which it is hosting, the interior minister said.

The tournament starts on June 14 and is set to attract 2.7 million fans to stadiums and up to 12 million at public viewing events.

"For the Euros, we are pooling the forces of the security authorities even more strongly and preparing for possible threats," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

"During the tournament, we will conduct temporary border controls at all German borders to prevent potentially violent actors from entering," she said.

The comments follow a mass shooting at a concert in Moscow, in which at least 139 people were killed and 180 injured. Western intelligence has linked the attack to the Islamic State militant group and France said it was raising its terror alert warning to the highest level following the attack.