German police have blocked 2,300 illegal entries to the country during the current Euro 2024 competition, an Interior Ministry spokesman told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper in remarks published on Monday.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, in an interview with the paper, said more than 400 arrest warrants had been executed and 50 football hooligans prevented from entering the country over the past two weeks.
The competition began on June 14, and the finals are to be played on July 14.
"This shows that it's a good thing that we are conducting checks at the borders to Denmark, the Benelux countries and France during the championships," Faeser told the paper.
The checks are to continue to July 19 depending on the situation. Faeser described the operation as a "huge effort" on the part of the federal police and the police in the individual states, she said.
According to the Interior Ministry, 22,000 federal police are being deployed to watch the borders, the airports and railway stations.
Faeser said her view of the tournament was extremely positive. "My impression is that fans from across Europe feel very happy here," she said, according to the published article.
