The past year has been tense in terms of pressure caused by border violators, said Guntis Pujāts, Chief of the Latvian State Border Guard, in an interview on Monday on Rīta panorāma.
According to Pujāts, the most difficult period for the Border Guard was during the summer months, while December has so far been relatively calm. Around 150 border violators have been recorded this month in total, with significant pressure occurring on a single specific day—demonstrating that services cannot afford to relax.
This year, the Border Guard has apprehended 85 carriers involved in transporting illegal border crossers.
Pujāts reiterated that illegal migration on the Belarus border is being instrumentalized rather than occurring naturally; accordingly, changes are possible only if the aggressor states decide to stop this pressure.
The official also noted that hot-air balloons, which are ostensibly used to send contraband cigarettes from Belarus toward Lithuania and Latvia, currently represent more of an instrumentalized hybrid attack.
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