Lithuania plans to continue support for Latvia but undecided on sending more border guards

Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) will continue providing assistance to Latvia as it faces rising irregular migration flows from Belarus, but it has not yet decided whether to send additional personnel, LRT reports, citing ELTA.

“The overall situation at the region’s borders remains dynamic, so continuous operational information exchange and coordination of resources between the services of both countries are ongoing. We plan to continue providing solidarity-based support to our Latvian colleagues to ensure the security of the EU’s external border. Decisions on further assistance will be considered based on the evolving situation and the corresponding needs,” said Lina Laurinaitytė, head of VSAT’s Communications Department.

She added: “We are reliable partners and are ready to respond to the assistance needs of neighbouring countries, taking into account the real security situation and our available capacities.”

Lithuania has already deployed border guard teams to Latvia twice, with nine officers sent each time. However, VSAT has not confirmed whether it will increase the number of personnel in future missions.

“For now, we cannot answer this question. We are monitoring the situation and communicating with partners,” the service representative said.

Last week, Latvia’s Interior Minister Janis Dombrava, during a visit to Lithuania, told LRT television that Riga expects greater involvement from Lithuania—around 100 border guards. Lithuania’s Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas responded that the country currently lacks the capacity to send 100 officers to help Latvia manage irregular migration more effectively.

ELTA notes that Latvia shares a 172-kilometre border with Belarus, a close ally of Russia. Regional countries accuse Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately redirecting migrants to the EU’s external border to exert pressure on the bloc. In response, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have strengthened border security and constructed border fences.