Today, 19 October, at the Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers of the European Union (EU) in Luxembourg, Minister Rihards Kozlovskis emphasized the hard work of Latvia and the other two Baltic States in guarding the external borders of the European Union during the discussion on strengthening the Schengen area. This is especially true at a time when the EU as a whole is facing an extremely high level of illegal immigration.
“I would like to commend the vigilance of Latvia and the hard work that our country's competent authorities, in cooperation with their Baltic counterparts, carry out day in and day out at the EU’s external borders. The work of the Baltic States in combating migrant smuggling networks also makes an invaluable contribution to the common security of the EU. This very week, a much tougher sentencing policy for migrant smugglers comes into force in Latvia. But we see that this is not enough, and we need to work together to find even more effective ways to combat these schemes. I call on the European Commission (EC) to come forward with legislative proposals to tackle this problem.”
At the EU Council of Ministers, Member States are presented with the EC’s Schengen “barometer”, which shows the state of play on migration. The EC pointed out that 99% of third-country nationals enter the Schengen area illegally. Between January and August this year, the EU experienced its highest number of migrants since 2016, an increase of around 18% year-on-year.
At the EU Council, Member States also discussed the situation in the Middle East and its impact on the EU’s internal security. During the discussion, Member States agreed that the situation has changed and that every EU country needs to pay more attention to this issue. There is also a need for more surveillance in the online world, where the first threats to internal security are being seen.
The Minister of the Interior also informed the EC Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and the Member States about Latvia’s decision to close two border crossing points on the Latvian – Russian border. The Minister stressed that the decision was based on Latvia’s national and EU internal security interests.
It has already been reported that the Cabinet of Ministers decided to suspend the operation of the Vientuļi and Pededze border crossing points from 16 October this year due to Russia’s decision to allow Ukrainian passport holders to enter Russia from third countries only at two border crossing points – through Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia and through the Vientuļi Border Crossing Point on the border between Latvia and Russia.
Prepared by:
Beate Barkāne-Iļjenkova
Head of the Office of the Minister for the Interior