ARCHIVE – “Stop – state border” is written in three languages on the border with Belarus. Photo: Alexander Welscher/dpa
Keystone
For security reasons, Latvia will extend the reinforced protection of its border with neighboring Belarus until the end of the year.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the reason for the government’s decision in Riga is the “continued disproportionate number of illegal border crossing attempts”. According to the report, more than 5,500 migrants have been prevented from crossing the border to the EU and NATO country without permission from the authoritarian-ruled neighboring country so far this year. As a result, the pressure on the EU’s external border remains high, according to the statement.
The special regulation, which had already been extended several times and was due to remain in force until the end of the month, will now remain in force until December 31, 2025. This will give the Latvian border guard more extensive powers in six areas in the east of the Baltic state. At the same time, work on the border infrastructure is to continue. Latvia borders Russia’s close ally Belarus over a length of around 172 kilometers in the east.
Latvia – like Poland and Lithuania – accuses Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of bringing migrants to the EU’s external border in an organized manner in order to exert pressure on the West. The government in Riga has therefore had a fence erected along the border with the authoritarian-ruled neighboring country, which has been repeatedly damaged during attempted unauthorized border crossings. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the border is therefore to be equipped with additional technical infrastructure by the end of 2026.