Latvia wants to deploy army to build defence fortifications on border with Russia

Latvia wants to speed up the construction of security infrastructure on the land border with Russia by deploying its army to help with construction works.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Delfi, a Latvian news outlet

Details: Delfi reported that the Latvian armed forces might be deployed to reinforce two sections of the border, 11.07 km and 8.45 km long.

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Latvia plans to build a total of 180 km of fences and 53 km of other security fortifications on the Latvian-Russian border.

Large swathes of border-adjacent areas have already been cleared of forest to help speed up the construction.

The construction of the fence along the land border between Latvia and Russia is expected to be completed in 2024. The rest of the border infrastructure is expected to be completed by 2025.

Background:

• On 12 October, Latvia approved a decision to suspend the operation of two border crossings, Vientuļi and Pededze in light of the Russian decision to only let Ukrainian citizens enter the Russian Federation via two entry points: the Sheremetyevo Airport and the Ludonka (Vientuļi) border crossing. The Latvian Interior Ministry said that this could cause chaos and a humanitarian disaster at the border and suggested that the government close the Vientuļi (Ludonka) crossing.
• In September, the Latvian government approved a decision to temporarily suspend crossings over the Silene border crossing on the Latvian-Belarusian border in light of the increase in the number of illegal crossings.

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