Lithuania will deploy border guards to Latvia in July to strengthen security along the Latvian-Belarusian border as irregular migration pressures continue to rise, the country’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) announced on Tuesday.
The deployment will see nine Lithuanian border officers stationed in Latvia for two weeks, where they will assist local authorities with border surveillance, patrol operations, and efforts to prevent illegal crossings in areas experiencing the highest migration activity.
The team will include officers from Lithuania’s Pagegiai Border District and Coast Guard Border District, along with two canine handlers and their service dogs to support border security operations.
According to VSAT, Latvia has experienced a sharp increase in irregular migration this year, with secondary migration flows through the country rising more than fourfold compared with previous years.
Lithuanian officers have previously participated in similar joint border operations in Latvia between 2023 and 2025, reflecting ongoing regional cooperation to manage migration challenges.
Latvian authorities have reported that approximately 6,600 migrants have either been detained, turned back to Belarus, or prevented from crossing the border so far this year.
Meanwhile, Lithuania has recorded more than 1,600 attempted illegal crossings from Belarus in 2026, up from 1,002 during the same period last year.
Since the migration crisis began in 2021, Lithuanian border guards have blocked more than 25,000 attempts to enter the country illegally from Belarus, underscoring continued concerns over border security in the region.
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PRESS UPDATE