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The Scandinavian country introduced the hardline measures in a desperate bid to stem the flow of migrants into Europe. Germany, Austria and Norway, which are also part of the passport-free Schengen zone, also followed suit. The European Commission has told the four nations to relax the controls, which were imposed in 2015, within six months.

But Denmark’s prime minister today said he would refuse to give into their demands. Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the amount of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe "is still far too high". He added: "We will continue border controls unless the EU miraculously finds ways to regain control of its outer frontiers."

GETTY Denmark will ignore the EU's orders to lift strict border controls

Migrant crisis: Key locations before and after Tue, April 4, 2017 In these composite images, a comparison has been made between a scene at a key location during the height of the 2015 migrant crisis last year and the view there now Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 10 Aid workers help migrants up the shore after making the crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on November 16, 2015 in Sikaminias, Greece

GETTY Lars Lokke Rasmussen's comments are likely to anger Brussels

His comments are likely to infuriate the EU, which insists the number of arrivals has fallen dramatically since 2015. Brussels struck a landmark deal with Turkey last March to send back those arriving on the continent illegally. But thousands of migrants are still reaching Europe from Libya via sea routes to Italy, according to recent figures.

GETTY FILE PICTURE The EU insists the number of migrants arriving in Europe has fallen