Estonia will deploy additional police officers and border guards to Latvia to help strengthen security along the European Union’s external border, Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro has announced.
The decision follows the discovery in recent days of several dozen illegal migrants in Estonia who had initially crossed the Latvia-Belarus border unlawfully before making their way north.
Taro, who visited the Latvia-Belarus border last week, described the situation as extremely serious.
“You could say there is a traffic jam at the border. The Belarusian regime is deliberately sending these migrants into the forests, gathering them in special camps, preparing them, and providing them with various tools to overcome obstacles along Latvia’s external border. The situation is quite complicated,” the minister said.
He argued that
the migration pressure forms part of Russia’s broader campaign against countries supporting Ukraine.
“This is part of Russia’s overall aggression strategy, with Belarus acting as its ally. Even if they are not engaged in direct military action, they continue to provide logistical support and facilitate routes used to launch drones towards Ukraine. One form of this support is sending illegal migrants to European countries that assist Ukraine. The aggressors’ goal is to create additional problems and force us to spend more resources,” Taro said.
According to the minister, illegal migration places a significant burden on society. Overcrowded migrant reception centres require additional resources to accommodate people, as well as interpreters and other specialists, creating pressure that Latvia is currently experiencing most acutely. However, Estonia has also seen cases of migrants crossing into its territory.
More than 30 migrants were detained in Tallinn in recent days after travelling there following their illegal crossing of the Belarus-Latvia border. Most of them intended to continue onward to Finland.
Taro said Estonia is now far better prepared to deal with potential migration challenges than it was several years ago. In recent years, the country has continuously strengthened its external border by building a border fence and deploying modern surveillance systems and other equipment to improve border monitoring.
He also stressed that the fence itself is not an impenetrable barrier. Its primary purpose is to give border guards enough time to respond to attempts to cross the border illegally.
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