A new team of ten Lithuanian border guards are heading to Latvia to help patrol its border with Belarus, replacing 20 counterparts who have been working in the neighbouring country for two weeks.
The new team includes two dog handlers with dogs, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) said on Tuesday.
This marks the third shift of the VSAT mission, each lasting two weeks, to assist Latvia which has been facing increased migrant flows recently.
The new team, like the previous ones, are going to Latvia with their own equipment and weapons.
Coordinated by their Latvian colleagues, the Lithuanian border guards will carry out border surveillance, prevention of irregular migration from Belarus, and other border protection actions in the most problematic areas.
Since the adoption of a pushback policy by Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia in early August 2021, a total of 114,900 migrants have been prevented from entering the three countries.
Over the two-plus years, almost 73,400 migrants have been turned away by Poland, 21,300 by Lithuania and 20,200 by Latvia.
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