Luxembourg residents going to Germany are required to carry a negative Covid-19 test with them. Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn met with the German ambassador this Wednesday morning to receive additional explanations.
After the meeting, Asselborn told RTL that he explained to the ambassador that Luxembourg is opposed to the idea of mandatory testing as an entry requirement. It is acceptable to test travellers at the airport but it would be unacceptable to force Luxembourg residents to present a negative test result when upon arrival at a land border, he said.
Asselborn violently opposed the idea of German police yet again pulling over drivers at the border in Wasserbillig solely to check whether or not they are in possession of a negative virus test. "We still don't know what happens if you didn't get tested [prior to entering Germany]; this still hasn't been defined yet," Asselborn lamented.
If land border checks were to resume, they would again trigger traffic jams and several other problems, the minister stressed.
According to Asselborn, requiring travellers to present a negative test result does not significantly differ from actual border checks. "If there's a test rule, everybody can be checked. We don't even know if cross-border workers are excluded from the rule. Everybody can be checked, just as was the case between March and 15 May," he said.
Asselborn continued: "We celebrated the reopening of borders [...] on 16 May. This cannot happen again. And I think it is important to remind Germany as long as no decision has been taken yet. [...] This is a political decision, and not a decision that can be taken by an institute."
The German ambassador will pass on Asselborn's recommendations to the German government. "It is a political decision and we hope that the people who take it are aware that they might cause great harm to the country," the minister reiterated. "We carry out more than 11,000 tests per 100,000 inhabitants; Germany carries out 500. It would be good if Germany put the numbers into context."
Asselborn added that there are currently no entry restrictions planned in Belgium and France.
