U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Christopher Robinson and State Border Guard Chief Gen. Guntis Pujāts recently made an official visit to the Latvia-Belarus border to view infrastructure upgrades and discuss cooperative projects.
“Border security is an essential component of the United States’ security partnership with our Latvian Allies. We look forward to deepening that cooperation and we reiterate our commitment to ensuring that the NATO Alliance has the necessary capabilities to guard against all external threats,” Ambassador Robinson said.
Ambassador Robinson met with Gen. Guntis Pujāts, Chief of the Latvian State Border Guard, at the #Latvia-Belarus border to discuss our cooperation on border security. The Ambassador reaffirmed U.S. commitment to deepening our partnership to secure the external #NATO and EU… pic.twitter.com/woWKyYrH5H
— U.S. Embassy Riga (@USEmbassyRiga) May 11, 2023
The U.S. Department of Energy has already donated approximately $1.86 million over the last year in portable and mobile detection equipment for border security and radiation detection, according to the release. In addition, in March 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense completed a project to transfer 67 Polaris tactical vehicles to improve off-road patrolling of the border.
The U.S. Embassy also has led capacity-building trips in which State Border Guard representatives traveled to the United States to meet with U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials.