Lithuania Deploys Border Guards to Support Latvia Amid Belarus‑Linked Migration Surge

Lithuania has sent a second contingent of border guards to Latvia, adding 20 officers to the nine already deployed in July, to help secure the EU's external frontier. Latvian Interior Minister Janis Dombrova has asked for a total of 100 Lithuanian guards, but Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said the country cannot meet that level. The deployment comes as Latvia reports 8,905 illegal crossing attempts this year, roughly nine times the number intercepted on the Lithuanian‑Belarusian border, where 977 migrants have been stopped.

In a related meeting in Vilnius, Katelynas and Estonia’s interior minister Igor Taro discussed broader border‑security challenges, including illegal migration, hybrid threats, and the rise of drones and weather‑balloon incursions. They noted that Lithuania has blocked more than 25,500 irregular‑migration attempts since 2021 and detained over 1,450 migrants arriving from Latvia this year. The officials stressed joint cooperation ahead of Lithuania’s 2027 EU Council presidency.