Latvia closes sole Belarus border crossing as hybrid migration war escalates

Closure of the only crossing

On Friday evening, 31 July, Latvian authorities closed the Paternieki-Grigorowszczina border crossing, the sole remaining open checkpoint with Belarus. The border guard announced that clearance was suspended due to disruptions in IT systems. The cause and expected duration of the outage remained unclear as of the announcement shortly before midnight.

“Border clearance on the border with Belarus is currently not possible due to disruptions in the operation of IT systems. The causes and possible time of resolution are not yet clear.”

Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava confirmed the closure on social media, urging Latvians still in Belarus to use alternative routes. The move came one day after he had warned citizens against travel to Belarus, citing an escalation of the hybrid migration war.

Warnings and the hybrid war context

On Thursday, 30 July, Dombrava had posted on X that safe movement between the two countries could become difficult. He framed the situation as part of a deliberate campaign by Minsk.

“In the context of the hybrid migration war launched by Belarus, safe movement between the countries may become difficult.”

The Latvian government views the actions of Alexander Lukashenko's regime as a form of hybrid warfare aimed at Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The border closure, though officially attributed to technical faults, occurred against a backdrop of sustained migration pressure.

Migration pressure in numbers

Latvian border guards have thwarted nearly 9,000 illegal crossing attempts from Belarus since the start of 2026. In the whole of 2025, the figure was about 12,000. Since the crisis began in August 2021, authorities have prevented close to 50,000 such attempts. Migrants who manage to cross are often transported by smugglers using vans and vehicles formerly used by public transport, postal services, or even the border guard itself.

202512,000

2026 (Jan-Jul)9,000

2025

12000 attempts

2026 (Jan-Jul)

9000 attempts

Data from the article text

Regional response and reinforcements

Estonia has pledged support. Dombrava said that after a meeting with Estonian Interior Minister I. Taro the previous week, Estonia would send additional border guards to reinforce Latvia's external border. The Latvian government also decided on Tuesday to allocate extra funds for strengthening the eastern border, including fencing, surveillance systems, access roads, and ditches in marshy areas. The entire eastern border stretches 456.6 km, of which 173 km is with Belarus and 283 km with Russia.

Broader commentary

In a separate post, Dombrava criticized Spain's handling of migration, linking it to the broader European debate. He described as shocking the inability of Spain's left-wing government to stop a mass influx of migrants into the EU, and noted that Italy had questioned Spain's place in the Schengen zone after Madrid approved a plan to grant citizenship to half a million undocumented migrants. This comment, while not directly related to the Latvian border closure, reflects the wider tensions over migration within the EU.