Latvia has launched a coordinated border operation called Vilkatis, Latvian for werewolf, after 88 people tried to cross illegally from Belarus on Tuesday. The country’s border guard says 9,609 people have been stopped at that border so far in 2026.
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs told DR Nyheder that the operation brings the border guard, the police, the national armed forces and special forces into one effort. As DR reports, the stated aim is to cover exposed stretches of the border with Belarus.
The figures behind the decision come from Latvia’s state border guard. An update published on 11 August 2026 by the State Border Guard of Latvia put this year’s prevented crossings at 9,609, including 88 on Tuesday. DR notes that 12,046 people were stopped during all of 2025.
Kulbergs said the authorities are pushing people back and that the work requires large numbers of personnel. He described border control as having been fairly good, while acknowledging weaknesses that are constantly probed.
The Latvian border with Belarus runs 173 kilometers. Migrants have been directed toward it since 2021, DR reports, after European countries increased pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko over the disputed presidential election.
Pressure linked to Belarus and Russia
According to DR, Lukashenko responded by flying migrants, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, to Belarus and sending them onward to the borders of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Experts cited by DR say the purpose is to pressure Europe and create disorder. Both Belarus and Russia reject that description.
Kulbergs called the current pressure a constant provocation against the Baltic states and the West. He described it as a lasting form of hybrid warfare that tests readiness at the European Union’s external border, and said it is organized on high-level political directives from the Kremlin.
Māris Andžāns, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga, told DR earlier this month that Lithuania and Poland have reinforced their borders with Belarus more than Latvia has. In his account, those on the Belarusian side look for the weakest point.
The immediate focus is on halting the current flow, Kulbergs said. In the longer term, he pointed to dismantling the business model of human smugglers, which he said requires international cooperation, and to technical solutions such as sensors, drones and surveillance that would reduce the need for personnel.
Latvia holds a general election in early October. Asked whether the border pressure is intended to create uncertainty before the vote, Kulbergs said he could not rule it out and that the government is preparing for the worst. He added that Russia has well established methods for financing such activities, and said President Vladimir Putin needs new victories because Russia is losing ground at the front in Ukraine.
