WARSAW, July 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Poland temporarily reintroduced border controls with Germany and Lithuania at midnight Sunday, saying they are needed to control "illegal immigration".

The issue was central to June's presidential election where nationalist Karol Nawrocki -- who ran on a slogan of "Poland first, Poles first" -- narrowly defeated the candidate backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The Tusk government is now seeking to outflank its rivals by taking a tough approach to immigration.

Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Sunday the decision was taken purely to combat "illegal immigration" and insisted Poles and other EU nationals would not face inconvenience.

In total, 52 checkpoints have been set up on the border with Germany and 13 with Lithuania, the minister said.

The controls will last from 7 July to 5 August but could be extended.

They will mostly consist of spot inspections, particularly of vehicles carrying several people, Polish officials said.

Germany reintroduced temporary checks on the border with Poland in November 2023.

Warsaw last month began to accuse Berlin of sending irregular migrants arriving from Poland back across the border.

"The German side is now actually refusing to authorise the entry of migrants heading to Germany to request asylum or obtain another type of status," Tusk said Tuesday.

The controls on Lithuania's border were introduced to stop migrants coming in from Belarus, according to Poland.

Nationalist and far-right politicians accuse Tusk's government of having "abdicated" to Germany on migration and of allowing Berlin to overwhelm Poland with migrants.

In late June, members of a far-right party gathered at several points along the border to set up "citizens' patrols", which the government insists are illegal.

The German interior ministry last week said it would "do everything possible to find a good solution, a good joint solution".

The Germans have proposed joint patrols but the Poles have refused.