Latvia has become the latest focus of what EU governments describe as Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka's campaign to use migration as a tool of political pressure against the bloc's eastern frontier.
After years in which Latvia, Lithuania and Poland shared the bulk of irregular crossings from Belarus, Latvian authorities say the pressure has now shifted towards their border. The increase comes just months before Latvia's parliamentary elections on 3 October, raising concerns that Minsk is once again seeking to exploit migration to destabilise the region.
The scale of the shift is reflected in recent border data. On Thursday, Latvia, which has a 173-kilometre border with Belarus, recorded 111 attempted illegal crossings from the country in a single day. Lithuania, which shares a border four times longer at 679 kilometres, recorded two attempted crossings on the same day, while Poland reported none the previous day. Secondary migration to Lithuania through Latvia has also increased fourfold.
"Today Latvia's border has become the main target," Latvia's Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava told Euronews.
Officials in Riga argue that the timing is not accidental.
