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POZIRK+At least 100,000 people persecuted Belarus, rights advocate says
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Latvian army says it has evidence of Belarus’ involvement in irregular migration
January 15, Pozirk. Available intelligence and documented cases confirm the involvement of Belarusian law enforcement and military personnel in directing undocumented migrants toward the Latvian border, LETA reported, citing Latvia’s National Armed Forces.
Evidence collected by Latvia proves coordinated actions, including the transportation of irregular migrants by Belarusian military vehicles and the involvement of officers in organizing attempts to cross into the European Union outside the checkpoints.
Latvian border guards seized documents and communication devices belonging to a Belarusian military serviceman from an undocumented migrant. The materials reportedly included internal military unit documents and records detailing technical assets issued for the operation.
Pictures found on the mobile devices of arrested foreigners showed Belarusian border guards together with irregular migrants, including in military-type vehicles, according to the Latvian army. Other documented cases show Belarusian border guards transporting migrants to locations from which they were directed to cross the Latvian border, it added.
Other instances point to the use of undocumented migrants for intelligence-gathering and other components of hybrid threats, the report said.
Belarus’ western neighbors thwarted more than 42,700 irregular entries in 2025, including more than 12,000 attempts to cross irregularly into Latvia, more than double the total for all of 2024, according to Pozirk’s analysis of border guards’ data.
The Latvian authorities have repeatedly extended enhanced security in the border area with Belarus, citing irregular migration. The measures are currently in force until July 2026.
The flow of people desperate to cross into the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.
Latvia to keep enhanced border measures amid irregular migration via Belarus
December 29, Pozirk. Irregular migration from Belarus into Latvia is artificial in nature, and Riga will lift enhanced border protections only if Minsk stops migration pressure, Guntis Pujāts, chief of the Latvian State Border Guard, has told LTV1. The Latvian …
