The Ministry of the Interior reports – due to the rapid increase of the number of illegal border-crossing cases on the Latvian-Belarusian border and the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, the government decided on the 2nd of May to extend the state of emergency on the Latvian-Belarusian border until the 10th of August 2023.
It will remain in force in Ludza, Krāslava, Augšdaugava and Daugavpils.
In January 2023 a total of 344 people were deterred from illegally crossing the border, 377 in February, 559 in March, 776 in April. 95 persons have been denied access to Latvia in May so far. In 2022 a total of 5 286 people were deterred from illegally crossing the country’s border (4 045 in 2021).
The war started by Russia and supported by Belarus is considered a contributing factor and, possibly, a motivation for Belarus to continue efforts to destabilise the situation on the border with Latvia and exact pressure on the EU and NATO.
Information received from institutions in Lithuania and Poland indicates efforts to illegally cross the border from Belarus continue. This is why it is important to ensure a unified and coordinated action among countries to this illegal occurrence in order to ensure proper security on the border with Belarus.
Also read: BNN ANALYSES | Lithuania passes law embedding different treatment of Russians and Belarusians