Western Europe still attracts the attention of residents of Eastern European countries. Every year, thousands of immigrants, primarily from CIS countries, try to start a new life here. A large number of them are illegal immigrants, whose names often appear in crime reports.
Statistics recorded a particularly large number of illegal emigrants in the period from 2000 to 2002. According to CDU representatives, the reason was the government's 'too lax' visa policy. The Christian Democrats prepared 48 motions to investigate the actions of officials who, in their opinion, contributed to the increase in the number of illegal immigrants.
According to the opposition, it is precisely because of the careless issuance of Schengen visas that such a phenomenon as prostitution is widespread in the country. The Christian Democrats' reproaches are directed primarily at the Foreign Ministry staff and their boss, the leader of the Green Party, Joschka Fischer.
According to Hans-Peter Uhl, a deputy from the CDU/CSU faction, it was the Foreign Ministry that at the time issued a directive that made officials check visa applications less thoroughly. This refers to the so-called 'Volmer directive', which came out of the German Foreign Ministry in 2000. The then state secretary of this department, Ludger Volmer, justified his decision by the absence of reasons for overly strict checks on applicants for a visa to Germany.
According to the directive, persons wishing to obtain a visa were not required to appear in person at the visa departments of consulates. A visa could be obtained, in particular, through travel agencies. Moreover, officials began to recognize the so-called 'tourist insurance passports', which supposedly guaranteed the tourist's return to the country of departure and the provision of medical services during the trip.
After the introduction of such liberal rules, a massive influx of illegal immigrants using forged documents began. According to the deputy, thousands of Ukrainians entered Germany between 2000 and 2002 on fake invitations, holding foreign passports with visas issued by the German consulate in Kyiv. In 2001 alone, this consulate issued 400,000 visas. And on average, 190 German consulates operating in different countries processed about 3 million visa applications.
Criticism of the Foreign Ministry also came from representatives of the judiciary, who had more than once encountered obvious mafiosi holding completely legal documents. But this criticism had a real effect only in October 2004, when officials for the first time announced planned measures to tighten the visa issuance process. Consular department employees were instructed to refuse visas to persons suspected of intending to remain in Germany. Firms and individuals noticed for arranging mass invitations to the country were subjected to strict checks.
Foreign Ministry representatives do not acknowledge the reproaches against them and call the conservatives' initiative 'populist'. According to a high-ranking representative of the Foreign Ministry, Kerstin Müller, the aim of the opposition's accusations is to stoke fear among ordinary citizens and use it for their own political purposes. Human rights activists oppose further tightening of visa practice. According to Wolfgang Grenz, an employee of Amnesty International, tightening visa issuance rules would primarily affect refugees and human rights activists in need of protection.
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