For the first time, a tunnel believed to have been dug by migrants has been discovered in the Silene Border Guard Unit’s area of responsibility along the Latvia-Belarus border, Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava (National Alliance) told journalists on Monday. The tunnel was found around midnight heading into Tuesday.
The minister said that a group of migrants had been located through close cooperation between the State Border Guard, the National Armed Forces (NBS) and the State Police.
“While trying to establish more precisely how they had entered our country, this concealed tunnel was discovered. So far, it is the first tunnel of its kind found in Latvia,” Dombrava said.
The minister said the authorities would assess what preventive measures should be introduced. He added that he had instructed the ministry’s state secretary to explore the possibility of conducting ground scans along Latvia’s external land border, as well as taking other measures to determine whether this is the only tunnel of its kind or whether others exist.
As previously reported,
in early August Lithuanian border guards discovered what was already the third underground tunnel
found in their operations near the village of Latežeris in the Druskininkai municipality. The tunnel was believed to have been intended to facilitate illegal migration from Belarus, Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service announced on the 5th of August.
The tunnel was discovered after border guards, working together with Polish Border Guard specialists and using specialised equipment, inspected suspected excavation sites. The underground passage had been dug approximately 1.5 metres beneath the physical barrier along the border and reinforced with logs and wooden planks.
It was the third tunnel discovered by Varėna border guards along the Belarusian border in recent weeks. This year, Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service has recorded a total of 12 attempts to enter Lithuania by digging underground.
As previously reported, Operation Vilkatis was launched in Latvia on Tuesday,
with all responsible services carrying out coordinated measures to curb illegal migration, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (United List) told journalists.
Following a government meeting last week, the Prime Minister said that significant preventive measures involving the interior and defence sectors would be implemented in August to curb the flow of irregular migrants across the border as much as possible. The border is also part of the European Union’s external border.
The Prime Minister also stressed that, in order to maintain national security, the government was considering all possible options for addressing illegal migration.
Kulbergs explained that this meant the closure of the Pāternieki border crossing on the Latvia-Belarus border remained one possible option, although “we are not approving it at present because the flow of illegal migration is not taking place at the specific border crossing point, but outside it.”
Asked to what extent economic considerations were influencing the decision not to close the Pāternieki crossing for the time being,
the Prime Minister replied that security was the primary consideration.
Interior Minister Dombrava also confirmed that an agreement had been reached on even closer forms of cooperation with the Ministry of Defence and the National Armed Forces to prevent attempts to bring border violators into Latvia.
“Various other options are also being assessed as to what we can do to bring this [number of irregular migrants] down to zero,” the minister said.
Asked to comment on the government’s decision not to act on his proposal to close the Pāternieki border crossing, Dombrava replied that suspending operations at the crossing was one possible course of action. At the same time, he said it was beneficial that the views of various institutions on the matter had been gathered.
Speaking about the circumstances under which the government might return to the issue, the minister noted that
similar decisions in other countries had been taken when problems at border crossing points intensified.
Under such circumstances, he said, a decision to close the crossing could be taken rapidly.
Kulbergs added that it was necessary to assess which measures would be most effective in achieving the objective, although, referring to the minister’s goal, he acknowledged that “we will never get to zero.”
At the same time, the greatest possible effort should be devoted to the use of technical solutions. Officials said information on the measures planned for August, including those involving the National Armed Forces, would be provided later.
“The Defence Minister has also announced that exercises will be held and that our allied forces will be deployed in significantly greater numbers closer to the border. These exercises will also be used to strengthen the border,” the Prime Minister stressed.
The Ministry of Defence told LETA that several military exercises are planned in Sēlija and Latgale
in August and September. NATO allies will also participate in these exercises. However, the ministry stressed that the exercises are not directly linked to efforts to combat illegal migration.
Meanwhile, border control at the Pāternieki border crossing has been unavailable since 31 July due to technical problems with information systems. The State Border Guard previously advised travellers to use the Medininkai or Šalčininkai border crossings on the Lithuania-Belarus border if necessary.
An enhanced border protection regime will remain in force in Latvia’s border area with Belarus until the end of the year due to the increased pressure from illegal migration attributed to Belarus.
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