Latvia reports sharp rise in illegal border crossing attempts

July 9, Pozirk. In the first week of July, illegal border crossings via Belarus into Poland plunged to 183, a sharp decrease compared to the same period last month, while crossings into Latvia rose three-fold to 386, Pozirk‘s analysis of border guards’ data showed.
Lithuanian border guards have not allowed 12 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past week.
Pressure on the Polish border has eased after Polish President Andrzej Duda and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in Beijing on June 24. Duda informed his counterpart about the challenges posed by the migration crisis to Chinese goods transit to the EU.
In mid-June, Warsaw also enacted a 90-day border area entry ban at the shared border with Belarus that helped cut illegal crossing attempts.
Since the start of 2024, the EU has thwarted at least 23,518 attempts to violate its border from Belarus, 15 percent more than in the same period last year. Poland was the primary target with 20,414 attempts, while Latvia and Lithuania reported 4,593 and 1,267 attempts, respectively.
The migration crisis at the Belarus-EU border started in spring 2021 after Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent migrants from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.
In June 2021, the Belarusian government announced the suspension of a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.
Tensions on the border escalated this spring with the spike in illegal border crossings and attacks on Polish border guards by people trying to cross the border illegally. One of them resulted in the death of Polish soldier Mateusz Sitek, stabbed at the border with Belarus.
Belarus’ western neighbors call the migration crisis a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.
- Politics, SecurityMinsk court sentences five Belarusian volunteer fighters to lengthy prison termsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyMore than 17,000 Belarusians visited Georgia in Q1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityArmy battalion conducting offensive exercise near AsipovičyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsUN experts sound alarm over forced psychiatric treatment of Belarusian dissidentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy
- PoliticsRights group reports raids in Dziaržynsk, exiled Belarusians targetedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsSikorski, Rubio discuss migration crisis at Polish-Belarusian borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: police punish criticism of Łukašenka’s policiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCatholic priest free after reported April 23 arrestThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus arrests French man on suspicion of hashish smugglingThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarus’ police arrest Catholic priest, evangelical pastorThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Belarus to build nuclear disposal site in Mahiloŭ region, Astraviec district or radiation-contaminated areaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus, Russia postpone common oil market until 2027The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRussian-Ukrainian war to determine Belarus’ future - SikorskiThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityBelarus’ foreign minister hushes up Russia’s defense spending hike in his speech at museumThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Politics, SecurityBelarus, Qatar discuss training exchangesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyPolice claim to have exposed provocateurs over viral videoThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsOpposition leader to visit US on May 1 – 7The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOfficial: 44 criminal cases filed in 2024 for donations to banned initiatives, mediaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsVilnius: Minsk, Moscow plot attacks on exiled Belarusians in LithuaniaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian PM postpones trip to Russia's Tatarstan for security reasonsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus posts 249 record temperatures since mid-AprilThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- EconomyJob openings soar under Łukašenka's 30-year rule as labor shortages deepenThe material is available only to POZIRK+