Lithuania may impose temporary border controls with Latvia due to a surge in the number of irregular migrants arriving from Belarus via Latvia, Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas warned, LRT reported. He insisted that Lithuania cannot become a “transit country that anyone can pass through” and urged Latvia to take more responsibility for the problem, LRT and BNS reported. He argued that border guards should be allowed to use firearms against migrants to protect their own safety and state security. Also, he stated that it would be better for Lithuania to pay into the EU’s migration solidarity mechanism instead of accepting relocated migrants, BNS reported. Doing so would help avoid public tensions in Lithuanian society, he said.
Meanwhile, Antanas Montvydas, deputy commander of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT), complained that Latvia had been slow in taking back irregular migrants who crossed into Lithuania. In the first half of 2026, Lithuanian border guards detained more than 1,200 migrants entering from Latvia, which was up four times from just 300 in the corresponding period of 2025, BNS reported. Latvia’s State Border Guard (VRS) prevented nearly 7,900 migrants from crossing the border from Belarus in the first six months of 2026, compared to just 900 in Lithuania over the same period. VRS commander Guntis Pujats said that Latvia was currently the number one target of Belarusian hybrid warfare, LSM reported.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda argued that reintroducing internal border controls within the Schengen Area would be a sign of “defeat” and “capitulation” in combating illegal migration organised by the Belarusian regime, ELTA reported. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics also said that introducing stricter internal border controls would be a “disaster.” Speaking at a joint press conference in Vilnius, both presidents stated that the main focus should be on protecting the EU’s external borders. In the meantime, VSAT will send more officers to Latvia to help guard the Belarus border, BNS reports. The Latvian government has extended the enhanced security regime on the country’s eastern border until the end of 2026, LSM reports.