When assessing the future of railway tracks in the Eastern border area, security interests will be the top priority, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) said this morning in an interview with LTV’s Rīta panorāma.
According to him, for now the tracks can continue to be used for freight transport, but if security needs require considering their removal, then security interests will take precedence.
The minister stressed that decisions on this matter involve classified information, while also acknowledging that assessments are underway on whether and how the tracks could be dismantled quickly if necessary.
As reported, Colin Smith, a researcher of international relations and defence, said in an interview with LETA that, in his view, to strengthen Latvia’s military security, at least those unused Russian-gauge railway lines east of Daugavpils should be dismantled, because
without railways Russia’s ability to carry out any invasion of Latvia would be significantly hindered.
Speaking about the meteorological balloons carrying contraband cigarettes that are being sent from Belarus toward Latvia, Kozlovskis noted that in Latvia — unlike in Lithuania — these flying objects do not pose a threat to critical infrastructure. The minister did express concern that the falling balloons may damage private property.
According to him, there is no sign from the Belarusian side of any willingness to hinder such smugglers. In this case, state support from Belarus may not be as explicit as with the attempted migrant flows toward the Latvian border, but at the very least there is clear inaction on the part of the responsible Belarusian authorities.
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