(MENAFN) Poland has announced the temporary reinstatement of border controls with Germany and Lithuania in an effort to limit illegal immigration, despite all three countries being part of the EU's Schengen Zone, which typically allows unrestricted travel.

The European Union has been contending with ongoing migration challenges since 2015, driven by conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and most recently, Ukraine. Polish authorities have previously accused German officials of pushing undocumented migrants back into Poland, prompting some Polish citizens to form volunteer border patrols.

“We support free movement in Europe, but only if all neighboring countries are equally committed to curbing uncontrolled migration,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He confirmed that similar controls would be implemented on the Lithuanian border.

Germany, the primary destination for asylum seekers in the EU, introduced temporary checks on its borders with Poland and the Czech Republic in 2023 to slow migration. Berlin has since extended those measures multiple times.

According to the Schengen agreement, countries can reintroduce border checks temporarily in response to emergencies—something several states did during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tusk also blamed Lithuania and Latvia for weak border enforcement, claiming it has allowed migrants from non-EU Belarus to enter Polish territory. Since 2021, Poland has accused Belarus and Russia of deliberately channeling migrants into the EU—an allegation both countries deny.

Earlier this year, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that growing nationalist immigration policies could threaten the EU’s cohesion.

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