The proposal will be discussed at Tuesday's government meeting.
The Minister stressed that the situation on the border between Latvia and Russia is stable compared to neighboring countries, but the situation could change. The state of emergency would mean a similar formal measure to the one that has long been in place on the border of Belarus; it would be declared in certain areas in the Latvian-Russian border area and would mean less red tape and more freedom in the internal services to access resources to protect the border. It is also needed in order to carry out proper checks of Russian citizens entering Latvia.
Similar state of emergency measures have also been used periodically to counter the spread of African Swine Fever among pig populations, for example.
“We also need to set out the arrangements for how we can register and manage all these people and, in addition, raise resources for every person potentially applying for asylum in order to carry out individual checks and be able to make a final decision on their future fate,” Eklons said.
The Ministry of Interior will therefore present its proposal on the need to announce an emergency in relation to the mobilization launched in Russia at Tuesday's government meeting.
Due to the illegal migration on the Latvian-Belarusian border, a state of emergency has been in force in the municipalities of Ludza, Kraslava, Augšdaugava and Daugavpils, since August 2021.
