Considering the tense situation on the Latvian-Belarusian border, the government decided on Tuesday, 1 February, to extend the state of emergency in Ludza, Krāslava, Augšdaugava and Daugavpils until 10 May.
The Ministry of the Interior mentions that between August 2021 and 20 January 2022 a total of 4 962 people have been deterred from illegally crossing the country’s border.
The number of illegal border crossers has increased since December 2021 and since then Latvian authorities have denied access to the country to 2 043 persons.
The ministry explains that such a rapid surge of illegal border crossers on the Latvian-Belarusian border can be explained with the change of tactics. From 13 December 2021 onward third country citizens have been trying to cross the border in small groups of three to 12 persons at different locations and multiple times a day.
The ministry adds that the planned increase of funding for three months of 2022 to cover the extension of the state of emergency is EUR 3.888 million.
Primarily it is planned to cover expenses from the state budget and foreign financial aid projects. If this is not enough, it may be possible to use money from the state budget for emergencies.
In response to the increased pressure from illegal migration last summer, Latvia’s government declared a state of emergency in Ludza, Krāslava, Augšdaugava and Daugavpils. The state of emergency was planned to end on 10 November 2021 but was later extended until 10 February 2022.
It is believed the influx of migrants to the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia is orchestrated by the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko in Belarus. Most of those migrants come from Iraq.
Latvian government extends state of emergency on Belarusian border
