{"id":201477,"date":"2026-08-27T17:45:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201477\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T17:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:45:37","slug":"latvias-border-chief-warns-of-new-clandestine-tunnel-under-belarus-border","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/201477\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvia\u2019s border chief warns of new clandestine tunnel under Belarus border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n Clandestine tunnel under the Belarusian-Latvian border\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Aleksejs Dunda \/ lsm.lv)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

August 27, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Underground tunnels used for irregular crossings of the Belarusian-Latvian border are built with the knowledge of Belarusian authorities, General Guntis Puj\u0101ts, chief of the Latvian State Border Guard has told LSM<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, Lithuania has uncovered 12 tunnels used by undocumented third-country foreigners to enter the European Union via Belarus, while Latvia has found two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puj\u0101ts did not rule out the possibility of finding more underground tunnels at the border in the future. \u201cI would say we\u2019re waiting for the next tunnel. There\u2019s information that they\u2019re digging. It\u2019s just a matter of time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the recently discovered tunnels started on the Belarusian side more than 10 meters underground, ran for at least 30 meters, the official said. The tunnel measured about 0.8 meters in both height and width. Diggers removed around 28 cubic meters of soil during construction and reinforced the tunnel with supports and plywood, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is definitely impossible to build such a tunnel without the knowledge of Belarusian border guards,\u201d Puj\u0101ts said. \u201cThe authorities were definitely informed and ensured that its construction went unnoticed by Latvian border guards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities may have monitored the construction using thermal-imaging cameras. Dismantling the tunnel \u201cwill also require significant work on the Latvian side,\u201d Puj\u0101ts said, citing the need for \u201cquite extensive road repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors thwarted 1,342 attempts of irregular entry via Belarus in the first 24 days of August, including 1,091 into Latvia, 209 into Lithuania and 42 into Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people eager 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

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