{"id":183201,"date":"2026-04-11T12:21:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T09:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/183201\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T12:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T09:21:30","slug":"irregular-belarus-latvia-crossings-surge-since-start-of-april","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/183201\/","title":{"rendered":"Irregular Belarus-Latvia crossings surge since start of April"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (mk.gov.lv)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

April 11, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Latvia did not allow 444 undocumented third-country foreigners to cross irregularly via Belarus between April 1 and 10, with the number of attempts exceeding the total reported for the whole month of March, according to Pozirk<\/em>\u2019s analysis of border guards\u2019 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first 10 days of April accounted for 59 percent of all irregular border crossings via Belarus reported by Latvia. This month\u2019s attempts surged by nearly 30 percent year on year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania has thwarted 164 attempts since the start of April, 10 percent more than in all of March, posting a threefold growth year on year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of April, Poland has not recorded irregular migrant activities along its border with Belarus, according to the latest available data. In the first quarter of 2026, Poland thwarted 158 attempts, a significant decrease from 3,540 attempts reported in a similar period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors have not allowed 1,270 undocumented third-country foreigners to cross irregularly since the start of 2026, with attempts dropping more than fourfold year on year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people desperate to cross into the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland signed a joint declaration on February 26 to strengthen cooperation and beef up border security and respond to hybrid threats. The governments committed \u201cto resist the instrumentalization of migration and other hybrid threats at the external borders of the EU, including land, sea, and airspace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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