{"id":210946,"date":"2026-11-07T21:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210946\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T00:12:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T21:12:23","slug":"migrant-pressure-from-belarus-is-part-of-broader-russian-assault-on-europe-latvia-says","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210946\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrant pressure from Belarus is part of broader Russian assault on Europe, Latvia says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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November 7, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Belarus\u2019 use of illegal migration to exert pressure on the eastern border of the European Union and NATO is part of Russia\u2019s broader assault against European security, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Bra\u017ee said in Warsaw on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at an informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the Council of Baltic Sea States and Ukraine, Bra\u017ee said that Latvia is facing growing pressure from illegal migration orchestrated by Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 13,000 attempts by undocumented third-country foreigners to illegally cross into Latvia from Belarus had been prevented in 2026, Bra\u017ee said, stressing that Latvia\u2019s border is also that of the European Union and NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a joint statement<\/a> adopted after the meeting, the ministers pledge to \u201cstrengthen our borders with enhanced security measures to reduce the effectiveness of artificially created migratory pressure or effects of Russian provocations in the vicinity and across of our borders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year Latvia has been the main target for irregular migrants seeking to enter the European Union via Belarus, accounting for 84.3 percent of the crossing attempts, followed by Lithuania with 12.5 percent and Poland with 3.2 percent.<\/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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Attempts at irregular entry into EU via Belarus exceed 15,000 this year<\/h3>\n
November 7, Pozirk. The neighboring European Union countries have prevented 15,174 attempts by undocumented third-country foreigners to enter their territory from Belarus this year, 2.7 times fewer than in the same period of 2025, according to Pozirk\u2019s analysis of border …<\/div>\n \n