Migration Processes in Central and Eastern Europe - Multiple Choices

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Construction of Borders and Practices of Labour Migration
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Why Cooperate?
German and
Polish Incentives
for a Common
Border Security
Policy 1
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Alexandra Schwell
for illegal migrants from the East to enter the European
Union, the patrols were held to be an adequate means to
prevent that migration. Likewise in 1998 the German-Polish
contact point (Kota) at the city bridge in Frankfurt (Oder)
was created. Here, German and Polish border police
coordinate joint actions and shortcut official channels.
The last important step towards closer cooperation occurred
with Poland's admission to the European Union. Since
1st May 2004, the border policemen have no longer been
the sole masters of their control boxes. In the course of
a more efficient fight against crime and traffic jams the
“One-Stop-Check” was introduced. Poles and Germans no
longer stand separately from each other but work together
in one control box and jointly check travellers. However, in
the beginning the border guards showed very little enthusiasm
for the new idea. They felt helpless and literally speechless
without adequate language skills. Poles expressed dislike
of the arrogant and boring Germans. Germans, on the other
hand, would never work with Poles, because “one's bike had
been stolen already thrice this year” – by Poles, of course.
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Border guards are the first representatives
of the nation state a traveller meets when
he or she enters a country. They embody the
legitimate state order, and they are the living
symbol that one sovereign territory ends and
another one begins. From the point of view of the nation
state the national border is a sensitive area. It serves as
a filter to prevent the influx of crime into the state's territory.
In earlier times European border security served not only to
beat back criminal subjects but also to protect the national
territory from violation and observation by the potentially
hostile neighbouring country. The latter function especially
has changed in meaning due to the process of European
integration and the creation of a new “security field”
(cf. Bigo, 2000), since “cross-border crimes” have come to
be perceived not as only a national, but as a common problem
for the European “Area of Freedom, Security and Justice”.
In the following, I will ask what conditions have to be met
for nation states to engage in police cooperation.
Subsequently, I will apply these theses to the German-Polish
border police cooperation of Bundespolizei (BPOL) 2 and
Straż Graniczna (SG) and will show the specificity and problematic
nature of this kind of cooperation, where Germany
and the Schengen countries face the “junior partner” Poland.
Their relationship is marked by dependency and
asymmetry 3 .
GERMAN-POLISH COOPERATION AT THE ODRA
The German-Polish cooperation has taken on a role
as a trailblazer for European border police cooperation.
Already in 1998 German-Polish border patrols were introduced.
Since at the time the border was the last obstacle
CONDITIONS AND MOTIVES FOR COOPERATION
Successful police cooperation needs more than
goodwill and a political resolution. Mathieu Deflem (2000)
has provided a detailed account of the historic origins
of international police cooperation. With a reference to
Max Weber's theory on bureaucracy, he designs a model
of international police cooperation which differentiates
between structural conditions and operational motives
(cf. Weber, 2005 [1921]).
(1) Structural conditions enable national police
forces to become active outside the borders of their national
legislation. Therefore they must be specialised bureaucracies
that have reached a sufficient degree of independence from
their respective governments. This allows them to act
semi-autonomously (cf. Anderson et al., 1995: 4). Moreover,
only similar structural positions inside the state between
police forces of different countries create the basis for
cooperation, “as the police recognise one another as fellow
professionals, rather than as diverse nationals” (Deflem,
2002: 457). As Deflem points out, local experts from the
respective institutions have always initiated successful
police cooperation before it was legally fixed.
Only the fall of the Iron Curtain and the prospect
of Poland's accession to the European Union provided the
framework for German-Polish border police cooperation
to emerge. On the basis of favourable structural conditions
(relative independence, Poland's EU integration) local
experts from inside the organisations on the meso level
of BPOL-Ämter and SG-Oddziałe had initiated the cooperation.
As semi-autonomous institutions, the border police organisations
remain untouched by any tensions in German-Polish
relations; hence political differences between governments
Migration Processes in Central and Eastern Europe: Unpacking the Diversity