INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Latvia will impose new constraints at its border checkpoints with Russia and Belarus, enabling just motor vehicles to cross, the government
announced Tuesday, pointing out a supposed rise in refugees.Latvia, together with Finland and Poland, has accused Russia and Belarus of
deliberately orchestrating an increase of refugees to destabilize the region.On Tuesday, the Latvian government authorized a ban on
pedestrian and non-motorized automobile crossings at the three border points that remain open with Russia and Belarus.The decision to
restrict the operations of these border checkpoints has been taken according to the risks of hybrid hazards and migration crises, the
federal government said in a statement.It blamed strategies carried out by Russia and Belarus aimed at organizing migration flows harmful to
EU member states for the rise in border traffic.Latvias border guard service supports the move, with its chief, Guntis Pujats, reporting
that officials had actually observed orderly groups of migrants attempting to cross.These groups are attempting to arrive at our border
stations but they have neither EU home permits nor Schengen area visas, Pujats told Latvian TV3 on Tuesday.The new restrictions, which work
Wednesday, will use at the Terehova and Grebneva checkpoints on the Russian border, and the Paternieki crossing with Belarus
The government did not specify when the restrictions would be lifted.Latvia has already built a fence along its border with Belarus and
plans to finish a comparable barrier along the Russian border this year.
