Latvia keeps Belarus border open despite security concerns

The Latvia-Belarus border will not be closed for now, LSM reports. The government made the decision at a closed meeting on Tuesday, August 4.

The Interior Ministry had proposed urgently suspending the crossing of the border by freight vehicles and residents. The only road border crossing between Latvia and Belarus, Pāternieki, has also been closed since Friday because of technical problems, which authorities hope to resolve on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs of the United List said migrants were not arriving through the border crossing but were attempting to get through the fence. For that reason, the Pāternieki crossing would remain open.

“We considered all the options for restricting this. This is the interior minister’s main task,” Kulbergs said, adding that significant preventive measures would be carried out in August to limit migration flows and protect the European Union’s external border.

According to Interior Ministry data, 9,000 migrants have attempted to cross the border illegally this year and were stopped. The government has therefore decided to deploy NATO forces closer to the border during exercises, the prime minister said.

Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava of the National Alliance said other options were also being assessed to reduce the number of attempted crossings to zero. Kulbergs responded that reducing the number to absolute zero would not be possible, but that it should be brought down to a minimum.