The intensity of violations on Latvia’s external border will largely depend on the situation on the other side, said the Chief of Latvian State Border Guard (VRS) Gen. Guntis Pujāts in an interview to TV3 programme 900 seconds.
He said last year was very challenging because of the illegal migration pressure coming from Belarus – Latvian authorities prevented 13 863 attempts to illegally cross over to the country. This required a great deal of resources from the border guard and supporting services – the State Police and National Armed Forces.
But the State Border Guard successfully dealt with this challenge thanks to complex measures – in parallel to guarding the border, border guards also kept improving border infrastructure and increasing penalties for carrying illegal migrants.
The influx of illegal immigrants on the border with Belarus has calmed down for the moment. However, there is information that suggests it may return,
as soon as the high alert status of the State Border Guard ends on the border with Belarus. “It is possible this is exactly what border perpetrators are waiting for before resuming their attempts to cross over into Latvia,” said Pujāts.
He admits that one of the reasons why the influx of illegal migrants has calmed down could be the harsh winter conditions. However, last year there were still attempts to illegally cross the border even during winter. “This largely depends on attempts from the other side to destabilise the situation in Latvia and the European Union,” he added.
On Friday, the 9th of February, State Border Guard College in Rezekne is hosting the VRS 2023 performance evaluation meeting. During this meeting Pujāts will report on the performance results of the service in 2023 and the priorities for 2024.
State secretary to the Latvian Ministry of the Interior Dimitrijs Trofimovs will address attendees of the meeting as well.
There will also be an award ceremony for the most distinguished officers of the Latvian State Border Guard.
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