(updates with latest info)

RIGA, March 17 (LETA) - The Ministry of the Interior has received the 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.

According to a draft government decree prepared by the Ministry of the Interior, starting March 19, crossing Latvia's border with Russia and Belarus through the checkpoints Paternieki, Grebneva and Terehova will only be allowed by motor vehicles, "in order to reinforce the border surveillance system and improve the organization of border controls".

The draft decree does not specify the duration of the restrictions.

The annotation to the draft document states that the partial closure of border crossing points is necessary due to the current geopolitical situation in the context of Russia's military actions in Ukraine. The ministry stresses the need to reinforce the border protection system and to improve the organization of border controls at these border crossing points.

"The war against Ukraine, launched by Russia and openly supported by Belarus, should be seen as a risk factor and a possible motivation for Russia and Belarus to continue their efforts to destabilize the situation on the Latvian border," says the Ministry of the Interior, citing Finland's experience with border closures. In a short period of time, Finland saw an increase in the number of people illegally trying to cross the Russian-Finnish border on bicycles and scooters. It is now forbidden to cross the Finnish-Russian border on foot.

"It is therefore essential for Latvia to follow a common approach with regard to the effectiveness of the organization of border controls at Latvia's borders with Belarus and Russia at the existing border crossing points, assuming that Russia uses hybrid warfare tactics at the border with Finland and can repeat the scenario of triggering a migration crisis, which was already used at Belarus' border with EU member states," the annotation reads.

The Ministry of the Interior states that the gathering of a large number of persons at border crossing points constitutes a significant public security risk, which has a significant impact on the enforcement of the border crossing regime, as there are several challenges related to the illegal crossing of the external border not only through the border crossing points, but also by bypassing them. In addition, the simultaneous concentration of many people near Latvia's border crossing points poses a high risk of riots aimed at undermining the border crossing point regime, which is a direct threat to Latvia's internal security.

The government will decide on the proposal this Tuesday, March 18.

Representatives of the Defense Ministry also told LETA that the ministry supports the closure of the border crossing points.

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.