Latvia shores up its border security amid against irregular migration

Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

On Tuesday the Prime Minister of Latvia Andris Kulbergs announced that his country launches a security operation under the name “Vilkatis” (meaning werewolf in Latvian), which will focus on strengthening the security at the border with Belarus, which presents a threat of directing irregular migrants to Europe.

The announced operation involves more of the Latvian Armed Forces’ personnel supporting the border guards. This will include allocating more servicemen to the task, as well as providing additional logistics. More advanced equipment such as drones, helicopters and aircraft will take part, to help with monitoring the border and detecting the attempts of illegal crossing into the country’s territory.

Another important aspect of Latvian effort is enhanced cooperation with other Baltic states as well as Poland, as they all face similar threat. Poland in particular is in the middle of its own plan of strengthening its border, as it previously suffered the attempts of Belarus to direct large numbers of illegal migrants into its territory.

Latvian government states that increase of illegal migration threat in the region is the result of coordinated efforts by Russia and Belarus, and as such constitutes a challenge for EU and NATO. The most recent surge was experienced by Latvia only months before parliamentary election, with fears arising over efforts to destabilize the country as the important political event nears.

The Latvian border with Belarus is 173 kilometer long. In the middle of July there were 111 attempts of illegal crossing recorded in just a single day.