Last week, Estonian police detained 63 migrants who do not have the right to be in the country, and authorities indicated that the situation is related to migration pressure on the Latvian-Belarusian border, and there will be no improvement as long as good weather conditions remain, writes ERR News.
The Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PBA) has detained several groups of migrants in the center of Tallinn, who most likely arrived in Estonia from Latvia, where they entered by illegally crossing the border with Belarus. The migrants’ target was Finland.
In a hybrid attack orchestrated by the Minsk regime, a large number of migrants have been constantly trying to enter Latvia, Lithuania and Poland from the Belarusian side since 2021. The crisis began when the European Union imposed sanctions on the self-proclaimed leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.
Migrants who manage to cross the border then try to reach Western or Northern Europe. Last year, Poland and Germany re-established border controls to prevent the smuggling of migrants. Several migrant smugglers have been apprehended on the Polish-Lithuanian border over the past year, and the flow has now shifted north.
Latvian border guards have reported more than 8,000 attempts to illegally cross the border this year,
and migrants are becoming increasingly aggressive. Lithuania and Estonia have already sent several police and border guard shifts to assist their Latvian counterparts.
Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro and Egert Belitšev, Director General of the Border Guard Service, held a press conference on the 28th of July to inform the public about the current situation. Taro stressed that the migration crisis was caused by Belarus, which, at the instigation of Russia, is deliberately bringing migrants to the borders of the Baltic states. The minister told the media that there are video materials showing how certain individuals – possibly Belarusian border guards – drive migrants towards the border and even help damage the border infrastructure of neighboring countries.
Migrants captured by security services often have items that are not typical of ordinary tourists. Taro said that no one goes on a trip carrying long ladders, pliers and flexes, but both Lithuanian and Latvian border guards have confiscated these very items.
Currently, the weak point is the infrastructure of the Latvian-Belarusian border, and migrants captured in Estonia entered Europe via this route.
However,
the tactics of Belarusian border guards and migrants have also changed.
Last week, several tunnels were discovered under the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, and last winter Polish border guards found similar formations. Taro pointed out that when examining the tunnels, thoughtful solutions are noticeable, and although the tunnels are not wide, a significant amount of wood is required to strengthen them. The minister explained that therefore the tunnels are not a job that could be done by an individual migrant from Somalia or Afghanistan. True, Taro emphasized that he does not support closing the border within the Schengen area, as this would not solve the situation, and migrants would simply find detours.
PPA head Beličev said that the focus of hybrid warfare has changed, as Poland and Germany have introduced border controls. He informed that 63 migrants were caught last week, and this year in total – 102. Last year, only 39 migrants were detained in Estonia throughout the year. Most of those detained this year were caught in Tallinn and its vicinity – in various hotels, in the port or in the city center, when they were trying to catch a ferry to Finland.
Belitsev explained that the entry of migrants into the country creates an additional burden not only for the PPA, but also for the judicial system and local authorities. Detention requires a court order, which means an interpreter is needed. Local authorities should get involved if the migrant claims to be a minor – in which case a guardian is needed to carry out the necessary procedures, and this role should be taken on by the local government.
The situation is not expected to change in the near future. Belitsev said that as long as the weather conditions are favorable, the flow of migrants will not stop. If October and November are cold and wet, the pressure could ease.
Read also: Estonia sends additional officers to Latvia amid growing migration pressure