In a first reading, the Saeima supported amendments to the Law on the Construction of the Infrastructure of the External Land Border.
Currently, it may be difficult or even impossible to build technological infrastructure as actions must be coordinated with all land owners, "but in practice they often set disproportionate conditions or do not agree and do not coordinate the planned construction at all", said the authors of the amendments. The amendments greatly reduce the rights of landowners to delay the construction process and leave it to the authorities to decide the levels of "appropriate compensation" that might be paid.
The changes to the law also provide that all documents for the construction of engineering networks will have to be issued within a shorter period of time.
The Eastern border will be equipped with technology by the middle of 2026, the Latvian State Radio and Television Center said, it being the body responsible for the implementation of the technological infrastructure.
It is also planned that the construction of the border infrastructure will be able to be carried out by the National Armed Forces, including the construction of fortifications and other anti-mobility elements on the external land border and the border strip. The authors of the draft law emphasized that currently the Latvian army can only carry out construction on properties belonging to the Ministry of Defense. As previously indicated by the State Real Estate, the National Armed Forces will be involved in the construction of a 20-kilometer long fence on the Latvian-Russian border.
In order for changes to the law to enter into force, they must be adopted by the Saeima in a second and final reading.
