Pressure from illegal migration has increased this year along the Latvia–Belarus border, according to the Finnish Border Guard.
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This year, Finnish border guards have helped maintain border security in 20 European countries. Image: Antro Valo / Yle
The Finnish Border Guard announced on Friday that it has sent a support division to Latvia to assist with border control.
The deployment followed a request for assistance from the Latvian Border Guard.
The unit consists of border patrol teams who will carry out similar border security duties in Latvia as they do in Finland, according to a statement by the Border Guard. The support is expected to continue until 22 September.
The Finnish Border Guard noted that pressure from illegal migrations has increased along the Latvia–Belarus border this year. Latvia began stepping up border surveillance in March, with Estonia and Lithuania also providing support.
This year, Finnish border guard members have helped maintain border security in 20 European countries.
“By supporting border security elsewhere at Schengen Borders, we also directly support the Finnish border security,” said Border Security Specialist Topi Räsänen from Finland’s Border Guard headquarters.