Author: infoerdve.lt editorial team
Source: Information provided by Lithuania’s Ministry of the Interior and BNS
Lithuania and Latvia are strengthening cooperation on border security as Latvia faces sharply increased irregular migration pressure from Belarus. Lithuania’s Minister of the Interior Martynas Katelynas met Latvian Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava at the Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, where the ministers discussed regional security, cross-border law enforcement cooperation and efforts to counter organised migrant-smuggling networks.
The cooperation includes a bilateral agreement on cross-border cooperation in combating crime, as well as the deployment of Lithuanian border guards to assist Latvian officers at Latvia’s border with Belarus. For international readers, this border is part of the European Union’s external frontier.
Since July, 18 Lithuanian border guards have been serving in Latvia. They are working together with officers of Latvia’s State Border Guard to help protect Latvia’s border with Belarus, where migration pressure is currently more intense than on Lithuania’s own border section.
This is not the first time Lithuania has provided such assistance. Lithuanian border guards also supported Latvian colleagues in 2023-2025. The latest deployment shows that cooperation between the two neighbouring EU and Baltic states is taking place not only at ministerial level, but also through practical patrols, officer rotations and operational coordination at the border.
For residents in border regions, the immediate effect is likely to be a stronger official presence and a faster response to attempted irregular border crossings, migrant smuggling or related organised crime. For Lithuania, support to Latvia is also relevant because migration routes in the region can shift depending on border-control measures, weather conditions, smuggling networks and pressure on specific border sections.
According to Minister Katelynas, the bilateral agreement on cross-border cooperation in combating crime is intended to strengthen shared security and cooperation between law enforcement institutions.
“Lithuania and Latvia share a common view of today’s security challenges in the region,” Katelynas said. He said the agreement was “an important step” in further strengthening joint security and law enforcement cooperation, and that it would also contribute to a more effective fight against organised migrant-smuggling networks.
Katelynas added that the two countries were making maximum efforts to prevent secondary migration, strengthen protection of the European Union’s external borders and ensure the safety of their citizens.
In EU migration and border-security terminology, secondary migration usually refers to people moving onward from the country where they first entered or were registered. Preventing such movement is one reason why cooperation between neighbouring border services is important.
Official figures cited in the Lithuanian report show a clear difference between the situation in Latvia and Lithuania this year. Latvian border guards have prevented 6,681 migrants from entering the country. They were either detained and returned to Belarus or deterred while still on the Belarusian side of the border.
In Lithuania, border guards prevented 869 people from entering irregularly during the same period. That means Latvia has recorded 7.7 times more prevented entries than Lithuania, despite having a much shorter border with Belarus.
The Latvia-Belarus border is 173 kilometres long, while the Lithuania-Belarus border is 679 kilometres long. Although Latvia’s border section is almost four times shorter, migration flows there are considerably more intensive. This uneven pressure is one reason Lithuanian and Latvian authorities are treating border security as a shared regional issue rather than a matter for one country alone.
The ministers also discussed practical cooperation between Lithuanian and Latvian institutions. The focus is not only on adding patrol capacity, but also on improving information exchange and coordination against organised groups that arrange routes, transport and communication across borders.
Irregular migration at the EU’s external border is therefore not only a question of physical border crossing. Authorities also have to identify who organises routes, how transport is coordinated, and how smuggling networks operate across different countries.
The immediate next steps are expected to include continued Lithuanian border-guard service in Latvia, stronger information sharing and coordinated action against organised migrant-smuggling networks. The stated aim is more stable border control in the Lithuania-Latvia border area and better readiness to respond if migration routes shift again.
Context & actions
About this article
Report
Share
Source check
Redakcinė patikra
Informacija parengta remiantis oficialiu BNS pranešimu apie Lietuvos ir Latvijos vidaus reikalų ministrų susitikimą.
Checks
Sutikrinti oficialūs statistiniai duomenys apie migrantų sulaikymus
Patvirtintas susitarimo tikslas dėl bendradarbiavimo teisėsaugos srityje
SourceBNS
ScopeLietuva
Updated2026-07-15 12:29
Report
Article contextPeople & topics2#5Martynas KatelynasJānis Dombrava