So far, the migrants have not tried to cross or damage the temporary barbed wire fence installed on Latvia-Belarus, Juris Kusiņš, the Deputy Head of the Daugavpils Department of the State Border Guard, told reporters on Wednesday.
The installation of a fence 31.5 kilometers long from the planned almost 37 kilometers will be completed on Wednesday.
Migrants have not tried to cross or damage the fence sections installed so far. Migrants are trying to cross the border in places where the fence is not installed, Kusiņš explained.
At present, various technical means are also used in the sections of the fence to ensure that no border crossing attempts are made.
At the moment, the situation at the border is not easy, but it is completely under control and there is no cause for concern. There have also been no cases of immigrants staying close to the border permanently and sleeping in tents, similar to what is currently on the border with Belarus and Poland, Kusiņš explained.
Observations by border guards show that young men from Iraq and Afghanistan are trying to cross the border illegally, but that there are also separate families. There have also been cases in the past where the same people try to cross the border several times.
No physical force has had to be used to deter the crossing of the border, but psychological influences have been used, with reports in Kurdish, Arabic, English and Russian that illegal border crossings are being prosecuted. “They also see the guards, our equipment, and it works,” Kusiņš said.
Kusiņš also confirmed that no provocations on the part of Belarus have been detected recently. Given the situation on the Polish border, Kusiņš reiterated what had already been said by other high-ranking officials that the border guards and cooperation partners were as prepared as possible for such a turn of events and that action plans had been developed.
The Minister of the Interior Marija Golubeva (AP) told reporters that Latvia’s goal is to prevent migrants from entering and leaving Belarus at our border, as well as to achieve a transparent border in order to better protect it.
It has already been reported that the temporary barbed wire fence on the Latvian-Belarusian border is planned to be completed in late November or early December, LETA was previously informed by the State Security Agency (SEA).
After the construction of a temporary fence worth approximately 3.7 million euros, it is planned to build a permanent fence. The government recently supported and the Saeima passed a draft law prepared by the Ministry of the Interior, which envisages entrusting SJSC Valsts nekustamie īpašumi (VNI) with the organization of the construction of the eastern border of Latvia.
Taking into account the increased pressure of illegal immigration, the Latvian government has declared a state of emergency in Ludza, Krāslava and Augšdaugava counties, as well as in Daugavpils. In the summer, the government announced it from August 11 to November 10, but later extended it to February 10.
Officials have previously pointed out that the efforts of the regime of Alexander Lukashenko in power in Belarus to force the population of third countries in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland can be assessed as manifestations of a hybrid war or a threat thereof.
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