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The Federal Police reported a further decline in registered unauthorized entries at German borders in August compared to the previous year and the previous month. The lowest value in over five years was reached.
The number of registered unauthorized entries at the German borders fell further in August. As the federal police announced on Friday in Potsdam, 3,587 people tried to enter Germany without valid papers last month. This was around 14 percent less than in July and 39 percent less than in August 2025. It is also the lowest level in over five years.
In the first eight months of the current year, the Federal Police detected 32,606 unauthorized entries at Germany's land, air and sea borders. This was 10,276 or around 24 percent fewer than in the same period last year. According to the Federal Police, the lowest monthly value in recent years was recorded in January 2021 with 2,727 unauthorized entries - in the middle of the Corona lockdown.
Unregistered, unauthorized border crossings, for example over the green border or over unmonitored field and meadow paths, are not recorded. That is why the number of asylum seekers is usually higher than the number of registered illegal entries.
In the first half of the year, 39,646 people applied for asylum for the first time - also fewer than in previous years. This not only includes migrants who entered the country illegally, but also cases in which the applicants came to Germany legally with a tourist visa or another Schengen visa, for example from China or Turkey.

The continued support for the AfD despite declining illegal entries and the East German resistance to migration despite lower numbers of immigrants show two blind spots in the German migration debate that can be traced back to cultural fears and perceived competition for social benefits.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are traveling to Kyiv in Ukraine for the first time since the start of Russia's war of aggression. President Zelensky confirmed the visit for Sunday and announced that Ukrainian airspace would remain open for travel, while Russia would have to respond accordingly. The trip comes after weeks of negotiations and follows previous visits to Moscow by mediators since 2025.
WELT is broadcasting a detailed election special program on Sunday and Monday with reporters from Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin, a special edition of "Freedom of Expression", an expert-run election studio and an analysis follow-up on Monday to shed light on the election developments and their national political consequences.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has canceled her planned visit to Serbia because the war criminal Ratko Mladić is being buried with military honors and publicly glorified there. She criticizes this as incompatible with EU values and questions Serbia's accession to the EU. Serbia has been negotiating accession since 2014, but under President Vučić there has been no progress in democracy and the rule of law, according to observers.
US President Donald Trump has once again ruled out that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attack NATO, despite the discovery of an explosive drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport. At the same time, he announced a new diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine, with his envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff scheduled to travel to Moscow and Kiev. Ukrainian President Zelensky confirmed the travel plans and offered to forego air strikes during the talks if Russia did the same.
The Saarland CDU has elected Stephan Toscani as the top candidate for the state elections on April 18, 2027 with 91.3 percent of the vote. Toscani, who has led the party since 2022, emphasized in his speech the right to return to government responsibility and called for a new beginning for the economy and jobs in Saarland.