Lithuania considers reintroducing temporary border controls with Latvia over migrant surge

Lithuania may reintroduce temporary border controls with Latvia to address a surge in secondary migration, acting Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas told BNS in an interview published by LRT.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, the flow of secondary migration from Latvia has quadrupled in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, rising from just over 300 to more than 1,200 foreign nationals.

“If the situation does not change, we should put all possible solutions on the table. Considerations could include a mechanism similar to the one Poland applied to us—border restrictions, where on weekends, lines of cars trying to cross the Lithuania-Poland border stretch for several kilometers,” Katelynas said.

He acknowledged that such a move would be a “nuclear option” but may be necessary if no other alternatives exist to manage the flows and detain migrants at the border rather than within Lithuanian territory. “I would really not want that,” he added.

Katelynas warned that the situation could become “quite quickly” unmanageable, necessitating additional measures. Even with readmission agreements in place, border guards face significant workloads, as the process involves more than a simple notification to Latvian authorities. “It’s not just a call to say, ‘We’ve detained a migrant who came from your country—please take them back.’ There are forms to fill out, documents to verify, and migrants need to be accommodated somewhere. This takes time, resources, and may raise questions about ensuring human rights,” he explained.

The minister also noted that current accommodation facilities for migrants in Lithuania, such as those in Pabrade, are struggling to meet demand. While he acknowledged reports of shortcomings—such as limited access to outdoor spaces or insufficient supplies—he attributed these to the sudden and uneven surge in arrivals rather than intentional neglect.

“At the beginning of the year, secondary migration flows were around 40–50 migrants per month. Now, they’ve increased tenfold—to 400–500 per month. In just the first six months of this year, we’ve already seen a larger flow of secondary migration via Latvia than in all of last year,” Katelynas said.

He drew parallels to the 2021 migration crisis at the Lithuania-Belarus border, stating that Latvia’s current inability to maintain control has shifted the problem to the internal EU border between Lithuania and Latvia.