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Germany stressed on Tuesday that the introduction of border controls with its nine neighbouring countries to stop illegal immigrants was in line with EU rules and not an attempt to solve the problem alone.

Berlin will not take any unilateral measures “that could harm the European Union,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, after Poland sharply criticized the decision and warned the EU that border controls could only be introduced as an “exceptional” measure.

Faeser announced on Monday that the existing border controls with Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland would be extended to the borders with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark for an initial period of six months.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned the move as “unacceptable” and said Warsaw would “reach out to other countries affected by Berlin’s decisions and initiate urgent consultations.”

However, Faeser’s ministry said the move was in line with national and European law and reflected “a coordinated approach both within Germany and within the EU.”

Her ministry added in a statement: “Germany continues to rely on close cooperation with its neighbouring countries, for example through joint patrols and joint police centres at the borders.”

A fierce political debate has erupted in Germany over the possibility of limiting the entry of illegal migrants, while public anger is growing following several deadly attacks by suspected Islamist militants.

The coalition under Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under enormous pressure to address this issue, which has fueled the political rise of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The conservative opposition party CDU and its Bavarian sister party called for far tougher measures and left a high-level crisis summit with the government on the issue on Tuesday.

“The government is incapable of action and leaderless,” accused Friedrich Merz, the likely CDU candidate against Scholz in the elections in a year.

The CDU demanded that Germany declare a national “state of emergency” to enable the widespread rejection of migrants without valid papers at the border – a proposal that the government, however, rejected.

Instead, Faeser presented a plan that would allow police to temporarily detain asylum seekers who are already registered in another EU member state while authorities work to quickly return them to that country.

EU police have access to the Eurodac database, which records fingerprints and other biometric data of illegal migrants and asylum seekers.

The Interior Ministry said that when checking asylum seekers at the border, German police would check Eurodac in accordance with its proposal and, if identified, would arrest the person while taking steps to quickly deport them.

The police will promptly “check whether detention capacity is available” and will submit an application to the court for detention or the assignment of a permanent residence in order to “prevent the persons from going into hiding”.