ARCHIVE – “Stop – State Border” is written in three languages on a sign on Latvia’s border with Russia. Photo: Alexander Welscher/dpa
Keystone
Latvia has permanently fortified its eastern border with Russia with a fence. According to the state real estate administration, the last completed sections were officially handed over. A published video showed a protective fence reinforced with barbed wire, next to which patrol paths run along the border strip. The authorities of the Baltic EU and NATO country in Riga announced that there is now a continuous barrier over a length of around 280 kilometers.
Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis also referred to the fence along the Latvian-Belarusian border, which was completed in summer 2024, as a “significant contribution to the security of the Latvian population and our country”. Further border infrastructure and modern surveillance systems are to be built along the border with both neighboring countries by the end of 2026. “Our ultimate goal is to create the most modern border protection on the EU’s eastern border,” Kozlovskis was quoted as saying in the press release.
Latvia began securing its land borders with Russia and Belarus with a fence several years ago. One reason for this is the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which the government in Riga sees as a direct threat to national security. This is why Latvia – like Estonia and Lithuania – wants to protect its borders with Russia and Belarus against possible attacks with armored barriers and concrete blocks.