Lithuania has extended the closure of part of the country’s airspace along the border with Belarus until 1 December 2025, the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGP) announced, BNS reports. LGP pointed to continued security concerns and the need for new legislation to guide military operations. Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said that extending the airspace closure was…
Poland will extend temporary checks at its borders with Lithuania and Germany for another six months until 4 April 2026 due to concerns over irregular migration, BNS reports. Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski noted that migrants were moving from Belarus via the Baltic States through Poland to Western Europe. Polish authorities detained around 60 people…
Poland has temporarily reinstated internal controls at 13 checkpoints on its border with Lithuania in response to increased secondary irregular migration via Belarus, LRT reports. Both Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) and the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association (LINAVA) said that there were no traffic jams on the border on the first day of…
Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) has reported a sharp rise in secondary migration via Latvia, BNS reports. Altogether 352 irregular migrants who entered Latvia from Belarus were detained in Lithuania and Poland in the first half of 2025, which was up 2.5 times from 140 in the same period of 2024. Most of the…
The four policy priorities of Latvia’s coalition government in 2025 are “security, support for families, economic growth, and reducing bureaucracy,” Prime Minister Evika Silina announced, LSM reports. She will begin individual meetings with ministers to discuss the priorities, according to LETA. Silina said that national security remained the government’s most pressing priority, highlighting the need…
Ukraine will remain the number one priority of Estonia’s foreign policy for as long as the war continues, Jonatan Vseviov, secretary general of Estonia’s Foreign Ministry, said, ERR reports. If Ukraine manages to survive winter 2024-2025, then spring-summer 2025 could be easier, he suggested. Estonia will never accept changes to European borders through military aggression,…
Latvia has taken over the presidency of the Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM) for 2025, LSM reports. The focus of the Latvian presidency will be on regional security and resilience, support for Ukraine, regional connectivity, energy security, and investments, the Latvian Foreign Ministry stated. Latvia would pay special attention to external borders, civil protection and…
No migrants have tried to cross the border illegally from Belarus to Latvia for nearly a month, the Latvian State Border Guard (VRS) announced, LETA reports. VRS has not detected any attempts at illegal crossings at the border with Belarus since 10 December 2024. VRS estimated that the drop in the flow of irregular migrants…
Lithuania’s Interior Minister, Vladislav Kondratovic, sees no need to relax existing restrictions on the entry of Belarusian citizens into Lithuania, BNS reports. Lithuania has stopped issuing new visas to Belarusian citizens with few exceptions and has closed four out of six checkpoints on the border with Belarus. Moreover, Belarusians arriving in the country are subject…