{"id":183697,"date":"2026-04-15T10:43:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/183697\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:46:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:46:44","slug":"irregular-belarus-latvia-crossings-exceed-1000-since-years-start","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/183697\/","title":{"rendered":"Irregular Belarus-Latvia crossings exceed 1,000 since year’s start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (mk.gov.lt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

April 15, Pozirk. <\/em><\/strong>Latvia did not allow 108 undocumented third-country foreigners to cross irregularly via Belarus yesterday, with the number of attempts equalling this year’s high reported on April 9, according to Pozirk<\/em>‘s analysis of border guards’ data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia has been the primary target of irregular migration via Belarus with 1,059 attempts since January, posting a 9.5-percent increase year on year. Lithuania thwarted 17 attempts yesterday and 406 since the start of 2026, with the number of attempts up by nearly 12 percent compared to the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland reported eight attempted crossings on April 13 in the first such incident since March 26. Irregular Belarus-Poland crossings stand at 166 this year, a significant decrease from the three and a half months of 2025 when 4,839 attempts were reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors have not allowed at least 1,631 undocumented migrants to cross irregularly via Belarus since the start of 2026, with attempts dropping nearly 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

\n\n
\n \"\"