RIGA, March 17 (LETA) - The Ministry of the Interior has received the State Border Guard's proposal to partly close the Paternieki border checkpoint Paternieki in Kraslava municipality as well as the Grebneva and Terehova border checkpoints in Ludza municipality, LETA was told at the ministry.

The ministry is currently assessing the optimal scope of restrictions on the border checkpoints' operations, their potential timeframe and justification. The ministry is also preparing a draft government decree to this effect.

The security of the national border and proper migration control, including the fight against illegal migration, remains a high-priority component of national security in the context of the hybrid threats posed by Russia and Belarus, the Ministry of the Interior says. It notes that it supports and will continue to support initiatives aimed at ensuring better control measures at the external borders of Latvia and the European Union (EU).

The Ministry of the Interior declined to comment further on the draft decree as its preparation has not yet been completed.

As reported, Guntis Pujats, chief of the State Border Guard, said in an interview on Latvian Television on Monday that due to the influx of migrants, the State Border Guard will ask the government to decide on a partial closure of the border checkpoint Paternieki in Kraslava municipality, i.e. to allow only road traffic to cross it.

Pujats explained that the proposal would be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday. He explained that the government would decide on the timeframe, but it could be, for example, six months.

If the flow of trespassers becomes critically high, the State Border Guard could ask to close the border crossing altogether, he confirmed.

Pujats revealed that the border checkpoint was closed for a short period at weekend for two reasons. First, due to unstable technical systems. Second, there was a risk that the point could be used to instrumentalize illegal migration. In particular, border guards observed a gathering of trespassers on the Belarusian side.

"After analyzing the information, there were high risks that the checkpoint could be used to push illegal immigrants into Latvia from Belarus. The observations confirm this," Pujats explained.

He revealed that several dozen people were gathered on the other side of the border. And this preventive step was taken to prevent several hundred people from trying to enter Latvia.

Around midnight on Sunday, the Border Guard checkpoint was reopened and the technical systems were restored.

Pujats explained that this was the first time that the decision to close the border crossing point had to be taken immediately.

Pujats pointed out that a very large number of violators are heading towards Poland. During the winter period, they are up to 100 people per day. "We cannot exclude that at some point these flows may also be diverted to Latvia," he explained.

Latvian authorities consider attempts by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's regime to push migrants across Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish borders to be methods of hybrid warfare targeting these countries.