RIGA, August 11. /TASS/. Latvia and other EU member-countries must show the Belarusian authorities that sending illegal migrants across the border to the EU is pointless and will bear no fruit, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said on Wednesday.
"In fact, the Belarusian regime is waging a hybrid war against the EU. The first step was made against Lithuania. Latvia and Poland are next," he said in an interview with the local television broadcaster TV3.
"Lithuania was the first one to be affected - more than 4,000 [migrants]. They made a decision not to let them in. We have a little less than 400 [migrants]. We decided against letting them in, too," he said.
"All of us in the EU must show the Belarusian regime that this is a useless route. That these people will be unable to get into the EU across our border," Karins said. "Belarus’ hybrid war against the EU is getting worse. We will stay united, we will remain calm and act with resolve."
Latvia encountered the problem of illegal migration from Belarus shortly after Lithuania. The Latvian authorities have tightened border security and mobilized border guard and army resources. Karins last week declared the intention to speed up the construction of infrastructure on the border with Belarus. The Latvian government introduced an emergency situation on the border till November 10 to expand the border guards’ powers to send migrants back to Belarus.
In order to address the problem of illegal migration, several years ago Latvia declared the intention to build up 173 kilometers of the borderline with Belarus and to install 135 kilometers of fencing. The project was estimated at 27.6 million euros. Originally it was to be completed by 2021, but flaws exposed by the State Control Agency paused construction work. Last week the authorities declared the intention to accelerate the creation of infrastructure on the border with Belarus.