Saxony wants to maintain its own border police force

Saxony wants to retain its own border police force based on the Bavarian model, despite border controls by the federal police. However, this must be decided by a new government. According to Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU), the main task of the border police will be to search a 30-kilometre-wide strip along the border with the Czech Republic and Poland. There is therefore no question of a conflict of competence with the federal police. However, if the border police were to be established, negotiations would have to be held with the federal government to ensure that Saxon officers could also be deployed directly at border crossings if necessary.

Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) put forward the idea of a separate border police force during the election campaign and set up a task force to examine the project. The background to this is a sharp increase in illegal migration and the associated crime at the borders. The task force, headed by former Attorney General Klaus Fleischmann and former Court of Auditors President Karl-Heinz Binus, proposed a staffing level of 327 to 660 border police officers. This could not be recruited from the state police force, they said. "We are leaving the Saxon state police force as it is," said Fleischmann. The border police would be an additional plus.

Binus put the cost of a border police officer at 50,000 to 60,000 euros per year - without equipment. With the proposed number of personnel, this would cost between around 18 million euros and a good 36 million euros. Binus assumes that no additional staff positions are available and that the state would have to make savings in other areas. The border police could be launched in 2028 at the earliest, it was said.

According to State Chancellery Leader Clemens Conrad (CDU), the project will now be discussed with the potential partners of a future coalition. So far, the CDU, the Sahra Wagenknecht coalition (BSW) and the SPD are still in the preparatory talks phase for an exploratory coalition.