{"id":203597,"date":"2026-09-14T12:46:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203597\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T12:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:47:16","slug":"irregular-belarus-latvia-crossings-exceed-11000-since-january","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203597\/","title":{"rendered":"Irregular Belarus-Latvia crossings exceed 11,000 since January"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 14, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Latvia has not allowed at least 11,001 undocumented third-country foreigners to cross irregularly via Belarus since the start of 2026, according to Pozirk\u2019s<\/em> analysis of border guards\u2019 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country accounted for nearly 85 percent of all registered attempts this year, followed by Lithuania with 11.5 percent and Poland with 3.6 percent. Last year, Latvia was not the primary target of irregular migration, with a share of 27.4 percent. It accounted for just 14.2 percent of all incidents in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irregular border crossings via Belarus into Latvia have been reported daily since March 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 10, Latvia launched the operation Vilkatis to crack down on irregular migration by third-country nationals via Belarus. Initially scheduled to end on September 1, the operation was extended for another month.<\/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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