Lithuania has deployed nine border guards, including two dog handlers, to Latvia to assist in patrolling the Latvia-Belarus border, focusing on vulnerable areas to illegal crossings. This deployment will last two weeks initially, with further assistance contingent on the situation. Lithuania is frustrated by a steady flow of migrants entering Latvia from Belarus and then heading into Lithuania. The incoming Lithuanian interior minister Martynas Katelynas did not rule out temporarily restoring border checks with Latvia due to a sharp rise in so-called secondary migration into Lithuania, which quadrupled in the first half of 2026 compared to last year. Lithuania has intercepted more migrants from this flow and raised concerns that Latvia needs to take more responsibility for managing the crisis. Since 2021, Belarus has been accused by Western governments of orchestrating migration flows as a form of hybrid warfare against the EU. Lithuania has fortified its border with Belarus and reduced crossings despite continued high migrant incidents in Latvia.

Lithuania has deployed nine border guards, including two dog handlers, to Latvia to assist in patrolling the Latvia-Belarus border, focusing on vulnerable areas to illegal crossings. This deployment will last two weeks initially, with further assistance contingent on the situation. Lithuania is frustrated by a steady flow of migrants entering Latvia from Belarus and then heading into Lithuania. The incoming Lithuanian interior minister Martynas Katelynas did not rule out temporarily restoring border checks with Latvia due to a sharp rise in so-called secondary migration into Lithuania, which quadrupled in the first half of 2026 compared to last year. Lithuania has intercepted more migrants from this flow and raised concerns that Latvia needs to take more responsibility for managing the crisis. Since 2021, Belarus has been accused by Western governments of orchestrating migration flows as a form of hybrid warfare against the EU. Lithuania has fortified its border with Belarus and reduced crossings despite continued high migrant incidents in Latvia.