Luxembourg and Poland are also angry about the German control of the border.

Poland does not accept Germany's decision to extend controls to all its borders at the start of the week to curb illegal immigration, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday, adding that the measure should not hamper flood protection efforts.

Tusk spoke at a meeting of the flood protection crisis team in the southern Polish city of Wroclaw on Friday evening, after being told that rescue operations could be hampered by congestion at border crossings.

The Polish prime minister said he had also instructed the European and interior ministers to “urgently inform the German side that Poland does not accept its decision (regarding border controls) and that it should not obstruct flood protection operations.”

Meanwhile, Luxembourg's Interior Minister Leon Gloden has called on Germany to reduce border controls. The interior minister said that adherence to the Schengen Agreement was the “absolute priority” of the Luxembourg government. “The Schengen Agreement on open internal European borders should not be questioned. This is the central achievement of European integration. Borders cannot reappear in people's minds.” He also added that the German government had previously promised that it did not want to unnecessarily disrupt cross-border traffic.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden also believes that the Grand Duchy remains closely tied to the principle of open internal borders. “The lives of passengers must not become more difficult,” the Prime Minister said.

Luxembourg called on the German Federal Police to minimise the impact of border controls on traffic flows and the daily lives of people living in the border area.

Since Monday, a checkpoint has been set up about 10 kilometres from the Luxembourg border on the A64 motorway linking Luxembourg to the German city of Trier. A spokesman for the German federal police in Trier said that traffic jams could last for 20 to 25 minutes, especially during rush hour. If the traffic jam exceeds 20 minutes, they open the barrier and let people through. “We want to disrupt the movement of people and goods as little as possible,” he stressed. Leon Gloden also consulted with German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser regarding the motorway.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced on September 9 that Germany intends to take action against illegal immigration by introducing border controls. Controls that have been in place on the borders with Austria since 2015 and with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since last year will be extended to France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark next week.

The new regulations come into force next Monday and will initially be in effect for six months. The decision comes amid a heated political debate over immigration in Germany, following recent deadly attacks on suspected asylum seekers and as the staunchly anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party this month became the first far-right political party since the Nazi era to win a state election in Germany.