{"id":565148,"date":"2026-08-03T19:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=565148"},"modified":"2026-08-03T19:44:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:44:58","slug":"another-closed-border-a-chance-for-minsk-and-stimorol-for-ryzhankou-s-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/another-closed-border-a-chance-for-minsk-and-stimorol-for-ryzhankou-s-ministry","title":{"rendered":"Another Closed Border, A Chance for Minsk and Stimorol for Ryzhankou\u2019s Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cSometimes it\u2019s better to chew than to speak\u201d \u2014 the slogan from an old Stimorol chewing gum advertisement came to mind after reading a statement by Maksim Ryzhankou<\/b><\/b>\u2019s ministry on the situation at the Belarusian-Latvian border. The Latvian authorities deliberately left official Minsk room for maneuver, but in return received nothing but a barrage of rudeness from the regime\u2019s Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n

Latvia Under Pressure<\/b><\/h2>\n

The head of Latvia\u2019s State Border Guard, Guntis Pujats<\/b><\/b>, said that Latvia has become the main target of the hybrid war<\/a> waged by Belarus. Indeed, the relatively short Belarusian-Latvian border now features more frequently than any other section of the EU\u2019s external frontier in reports about groups of migrants attempting to cross illegally.<\/p>\n

On July 1, a record number of attempted illegal crossings<\/a> from Belarus was registered, with 232 migrants trying to enter Latvia in a single day.<\/p>\n

Overall, Puj\u0101ts said, Latvian border guards stopped 7,600 people attempting to cross the border illegally during the first half of the year. That was significantly more than during the same period last year.<\/p>\n

Authorities say both the migrants themselves and the drivers transporting them have become more aggressive<\/a>, forcing border guards to use increasingly tougher methods to detain them. The head of Latvia\u2019s State Security Service, Normunds Me\u017eviets<\/b>, told Britain\u2019s The Telegraph<\/i> that in Belarus, migrants are trained in special camps<\/a> before being sent to the border. According to Me\u017eviets, Belarus has established infrastructure along the frontier that includes \u201cwarehouses and hotels\u201d<\/i>, as well as \u201ccamps where migrants receive combat training before being pushed into Latvia.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The overwhelming majority of these migrants have no intention of remaining in Latvia. Instead, they attempt to continue to Western Europe. Groups of migrants have been detained<\/a> in both Estonia and Lithuania. \u201cMigrants enter Latvia and disappear, and later our border guards have to detain them on the Riga\u2013Warsaw bus route in Lithuania using forged documents,\u201d<\/i> said Lithuania\u2019s interior minister, Martynas Katelynas<\/b><\/b>.<\/p>\n

Katelynas did not rule out introducing temporary border controls with Latvia<\/a> to combat secondary migration. However, the presidents of Lithuania and Latvia, Gitanas Naus\u0117da<\/b><\/b> and Edgars Rink\u0113vi\u010ds<\/b><\/b>, described restoring border controls<\/a> between the two countries as \u201ccapitulation.\u201d Instead, other measures were adopted. Additional officers from Estonia\u2019s Police and Border Guard Board<\/a> and Lithuanian border guards<\/a> were deployed to Latvia to reinforce border security.<\/p>\n

Among the reasons for the growing migration pressure, Pujats cited Latvia\u2019s consistent support for Ukraine, its condemnation of Russian aggression, Russian propaganda narratives, and parliamentary elections due in October. According to him, the migrant flows are intended \u201cto destabilize the situation, fuel public dissatisfaction and create divisions in society over the alleged inability to cope with these challenges.\u201d<\/i> Latvia takes seriously the threat of escalation from Russia and its ally, the Belarusian regime. The latter, acting in line with the Kremlin\u2019s interests, may also have its own objectives \u2014 for example, forcing Riga into negotiations. From there, it might hope to push for the restoration of Belarusian transit through Latvian ports on the Baltic Sea. The approach failed with Lithuania and Poland, so the pressure has shifted elsewhere.<\/p>\n

However, that strategy has not succeeded. In July, Latvia\u2019s National Security Council approved new measures to strengthen the Belarusian-Latvian border<\/a>. On July 30, Latvia\u2019s Cabinet of Ministers decided to extend the enhanced border security regime<\/a> along the Belarusian-Latvian frontier until Dec. 31, 2026. The special security regime for sections of the border was first introduced by the Latvian government in August 2021, after the migration crisis began on the EU\u2019s external borders.<\/p>\n

This time, however, Latvia\u2019s patience appears to have run out. It is likely that another decision was taken on June 30, the consequences of which became apparent the following day.<\/p>\n

A Final Warning?<\/b><\/h2>\n

On June 30, Latvia\u2019s Interior Minister J\u0101nis Dombrava<\/b><\/b> urged citizens not to plan trips to Belarus and called on those already there to return to Latvia.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafe travel between the two countries may become more difficult under the conditions of the hybrid war being waged by Belarus,\u201d<\/i> the minister warned.<\/p>\n

Then, on July 31, the head of Latvia\u2019s Interior Ministry announced that the Latvia-Belarus border had been closed \u201cfor technical reasons\u201d<\/a>. As Latvia\u2019s State Border Guard spokesperson Krist\u012bne Petersone<\/b><\/b> later explained, an information systems failure had occurred at the Paternieki border crossing, known on the Belarusian side as Hryharoushchyna. The Belarusian-Latvian border remains closed for the time being.<\/p>\n

In this case, however, the information systems failure appears to have been little more than a pretext. A final warning. Latvia could have immediately and officially linked the closure of the only international road border crossing between Belarus and Latvia to the migration crisis orchestrated by the Belarusian regime. Instead, Riga apparently chose to leave official Minsk room for maneuver \u2014 and time to assess the situation and send a signal in response: the message had been understood and steps would be taken to remedy the situation.<\/p>\n

Instead of drawing the right conclusions and making reasonable decisions, however, Maksim Ryzhankou\u2019s ministry once again entered the stage.<\/p>\n

The Moscow School<\/b><\/h2>\n

Today, Belarus\u2019 Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response to the suspension of operations at Latvia\u2019s P\u0101ternieki border crossing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The statement accuses Latvia\u2019s leadership of \u201cinstrumentalizing the border issue,\u201d<\/i> \u201cpolitical bias,\u201d<\/i> and betraying European values because \u201cthe freedom of movement of citizens has once again been crudely sacrificed to short-term domestic political considerations.\u201d<\/i> One might think they were writing while looking in a mirror.<\/p>\n

According to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, \u201csuch irresponsible actions cause tangible damage to international trade by undermining transit routes between the European Union and China, as well as the countries of Central Asia, while harming Latvia\u2019s own economic interests.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The statement goes on in a similarly offensive tone that has now become characteristic of Belarusian diplomats imitating Moscow\u2019s style. And in this Moscow diplomatic school, named after a St. Petersburg back alley, Ryzhankou and his ministry appear eager to be top students.<\/p>\n

The statement concludes by threatening Latvia with \u201casymmetric measures.\u201d<\/i> As though the measures previously taken against Latvia had somehow been symmetrical and friendly.<\/p>\n

Riga took note of the response. Latvia\u2019s Interior Ministry prepared and submitted to the government a draft decision<\/a> to suspend operations at the Paternieki border crossing on the Latvian-Belarusian border. The Cabinet of Ministers is expected to consider the document under an expedited procedure.<\/p>\n

It is entirely possible that the draft had been prepared in advance. It simply remained in one of the Latvian interior minister\u2019s desk drawers, awaiting its moment. It could either have been submitted to the Cabinet or left where it was, depending on the public \u2014 or private \u2014 response from Minsk. But after reading the statement prepared by Ryzhankou\u2019s ministry, the Latvian authorities concluded that the Belarusian regime had no intention of making use of its final opportunity. Whether Minsk is unwilling to take the necessary steps on its own or is being held tightly by Moscow is of little importance to Latvia in this case. Security comes first. And so, there is now one more closed border. Was this really what Ryzhankou\u2019s ministry wanted? Or did it once again miscalculate its zeal?<\/p>\n

As for undermining transit routes between the European Union and China, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry would be better off remaining silent. When Poland closed its border with Belarus, Minsk had already faced criticism over the issue from its Chinese partners. But Maksim Ryzhankou\u2019s ministry, it seems, is incapable of learning from its mistakes. Sometimes it really is better to chew than to speak.<\/p>\n

Of course, Ryzhankou is not the one making the decisions. His ministry merely follows orders. Not even those of Aliaksandr Lukashenka<\/b>, but of its immediate supervisor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov<\/b><\/b>. Still, someone should buy Ryzhankou and his staff a box of Stimorol. A foreign ministry behaving like this is an embarrassment. The only thing left is to start inserting profanity into its official statements \u2014 every other line has already been crossed.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

The opinions and assessments expressed by the author may not reflect the position of the Reform.news editorial board.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s better to chew than to speak\u201d \u2014 the slogan from an old Stimorol chewing gum advertisement came to mind after reading a statement by Maksim Ryzhankou\u2019s ministry on the situation at the Belarusian-Latvian border. The Latvian authorities deliberately left official Minsk room for maneuver, but in return received nothing but a barrage of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":565147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6a70c58fc787c.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Another Closed Border, A Chance for Minsk and Stimorol for Ryzhankou\u2019s Ministry"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142376,142339,142338,143127,143090],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comment","category-main","category-news","category-society","category-politics"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}