Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Tuesday her country will step up border controls this week after neighboring Sweden introduced stricter controls and immigration measures, local media reported.

Norway will introduce border controls on all ferries from Sweden, Denmark and Germany and step up border controls along the crossing entrances to Norway from Thursday at 8:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), according to news agency NTB.

Solberg has asked justice minister Anders Anundsen to impose the measures, including identity checks on ferries, buses and trains to Norway, the report said.

"What we will achieve is that people who do not have access to the country can be stopped quickly. And any person who has applied for asylum in another country first can be sent back directly to that country," Solberg told public broadcaster NRK.

"When Sweden tightens more, we are afraid that more people would come to Norway," she added.

Norway's measures come after the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofvenon said earlier Tuesday that his country is no longer capable of receiving asylum seekers at high levels as before and will implement measures to reduce the influx of refugees, including border controls and stricter residence and family reunification measures.

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