Migrants stealing surveillance cameras, using customized ladders, Latvian official says
October 10, Pozirk. Latvian officials sounded alarm over increasing migrant pressure at the border with Belarus, saying that intruders are stealing surveillance cameras and using custom-built ladders to climb the border fence.
Two surveillance cameras have been stolen at the Latvian-Belarusian border, Valdis Jukšs, chief of the Daugavpils Regional Department of Latvia’s State Border Guard, told Deutsche Welle in a video comment.
Jukšs added that a relay cabinet inside the department’s building in Kaplava had been damaged, which had caused several cameras to shut down.
According to Arvis Zīle, head of Latvia’s Crisis Management Center, migrants are using “special ladders” built “at a precise angle, with precisely calculated intervals between the rungs and the required height to get over our fence.” Commenting on the situation in recent weeks, Zīle noted that intruders are once again removing and stealing cameras, which suggests that “pressure has been rising lately.”
A major incident occurred at the Latvian border on Tuesday evening when a group of masked gunmen attempted to push 20 migrants into the Latvian territory, shouting threats at Latvian border guards. Several hours later, masked individuals crossed the Latvian border from Belarus, damaged a relay cabinet and stole surveillance cameras before retreating to the Belarusian territory.
Latvia’s Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava condemned the incident as a “demonstrative and aggressive provocation.” Minsk “should realize that such incidents may result in more serious consequences for Belarus,” he warned.
Ivars Ruskulis, deputy chief of the Latvian State Border Guard, said that Belarus is deliberately testing Latvia’s reaction to provocations to see whether its border guards will “take the bait” and shoot. Ruskulis said that current regulations do not allow border guards to open fire in the direction of Belarus to stop aggressive migrants or their handlers.
This year, the neighboring European Union countries have recorded almost 14,100 attempts at irregular entry from Belarus by undocumented third-country foreigners, with 11,900 attempts targeting Latvia, according to Pozirk’s analysis of border guards’ data.
The flow of people eager 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.
In June 2021, the Belarusian government suspended a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.
Minsk testing Riga’s reaction to border provocations, Latvian official says
October 8, Pozirk. Belarus is deliberately testing Latvia's reaction to provocations to see whether its border guards will take the bait and shoot toward the border, according to Ivars Ruskulis, deputy chief of the Latvian State Border Guard. Speaking on October 7 …
