Latvia and Lithuania have agreed to boost bilateral cooperation at the border with Russia and Belarus to stop steady numbers of irregular migrants crossing their borders. The two Baltic states consider the migrant flow as a hybrid war tool used by Moscow, in cooperation with Minsk.
Latvia and Lithuania intend to boost bilateral cooperation in the border area between the two countries and Belarus, the interior ministers of Latvia -- Māris Kučinskis -- and Lithuania -- Agnė Bilotaitė -- have said at the end of a meeting held last week in the Latvian capital Riga.
Kučinskis stressed that the coordination of operations at the border with Belarus is key to ensure the national security of the two countries, especially at a time of great instability.
'Victims of hybrid war waged by Minsk and Moscow'
The two ministers agreed that Latvia and Lithuania are "victims of a hybrid war" waged by Russia, which uses irregular migration as a weapon of destabilization and that cooperation will help rationalize and better manage the means available to fight the phenomenon.
Since the summer of 2021, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have recorded large numbers of irregular migrants of Middle Eastern and Asian origin coming from Belarus. The stream has decreased in intensity; yet a few tens of thousands of migrants have been pushed back at the border.
Vilnius considering to extend state of emergency at border
Lithuania is considering the possibility of further extending a state of emergency in areas bordering with the Russian Federation and Belarus, said on Friday (February 10) the interior minister of Vilnius, Agnė Bilotaitė.
"Our Latvian colleagues have chosen another extension of the state of emergency, we are considering the possibility of doing the same. We will announce our conclusions in a few days", said the minister. Through the state of emergency, the minister said, Lithuania means to end hybrid attacks coming from Belarus and possible dangers from Kalinigrad.
The state of emergency was repeatedly extended in 2022.