Estonia is ready to assist Latvia on the eastern border with a police unit if necessary

Last week, the Latvian police asked the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board to assess its readiness to send auxiliary forces to Latvia to maintain public order in the border area. The Estonian analogue authority has received this request and has expressed its readiness, but Latvia has not yet submitted the relevant application for assistance.

“The Latvian State Police, together with other Latvian civilian and military authorities, is preparing to respond to the deteriorating situation near the Belarusian border, and if additional assistance is needed, we will be forced to ask for help from our immediate neighbors. I ask that the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board be able to assist the Latvian State Police if necessary, “said Andrejs Grišins, Acting Chief of the Latvian State Police, in his letter.

In case the situation on the Latvian-Belarusian border escalates, Latvia will turn to officials who have skills in controlling riots and ensuring public order. In such a situation, Latvia is waiting for help within 24 hours, and such a mission would last up to a week. The exact tasks and scope of the service will be clarified when Latvia submits an urgent request.

“I have contacted the Latvian Minister of the Interior several times and assured her, as well as the Polish Minister of the Interior, that we are ready to help them,” explains Estonian Interior Minister Kristians Jānis.

According to him, the Estonian mission “ESTPOL5” has been assisting Lithuania for several months now, and a similar agreement on attracting support forces is in force with Latvia if necessary.

“In the hybrid attack organized by Belarus, we will not leave our allies and neighbors without help,” said the Estonian Interior Minister, noting that the protection of the European Union’s external borders is a common concern and priority.

According to Rēta Zeisiga, Head of the International Cooperation Office of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, the readiness of the Police and Border Guard Board to help Latvian colleagues sends a clear message, namely that “Estonia is a consistent and reliable partner”.

According to her, close co-operation between Estonian and Latvian law enforcement agencies is important to ensure the security of the entire region. “After the 2015 migration crisis, we signed mutual assistance agreements with partner countries, which have created preconditions for the development of our own capabilities and rapid response if necessary,” says Zeisiga, adding that support for Latvian police and other partners in the event of a hybrid attack will increase Estonia’s confidence. In this case, other European Union countries will also be ready to help Estonia.

CONTEXT:

In the summer of 2021 the number of migrants increased significantly, which is trying to enter the territory of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland illegally from Belarus. Most migrants are arrived from Iraq.

Officials in the Baltic States and Poland pointed out that the Belarusian authorities deliberately do not obstruct the crossing of the borderto punish these countries for supporting the Belarusian opposition and sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.

The European Union will do so described as the deployment of hybrid warfare and promises to help strengthen the EU’s external border.

On November 8, a large group of migrants gathered at the Belarusian border with Poland, trying to enter the territory of the European Union, but Poland refuses to allow these people because they believe that they are not refugees, but “tourists” who have come to Belarus voluntarily.

–