Latvia closes checkpoint on the border with Belarus

The Latvian government has decided to temporarily close the Silene checkpoint on the border with Belarus due to the influx of illegal immigrants.

This is reported by Delfi.

The decision to close the checkpoint comes into force immediately after the relevant government decision.

The Latvian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the pressure of illegal migration has actually tripled in a short period of time, as a result of which the border guard service prevented 894 attempts to illegally cross the Latvian-Belarusian border.

At the same time, in order to preserve the possibility of both entering Latvia and applying for asylum as soon as possible, it was decided that the border crossing point in Patarnieki would continue to operate.

"It should be noted that the war against Ukraine, which is openly supported by Belarus, can be regarded as an additional risk factor and a possible motivation for Belarus to continue its efforts to destabilize the situation on the state border with Latvia," the annotation to the draft decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reads.

Until now, there have been two road crossing points and one railroad crossing point on Latvia's border with Belarus. Three border crossing points remain closed due to Belarus' aggressive behavior when sending immigrants to Latvia.

Author - Olena Madiak, 19/09/2023