On Monday (August 3), the 11-member ESTPOL11 rotation was dispatched from the South Prefecture to Latvia's southeastern border.

The unit will spend two weeks in Latvia after Estonia received an official request for assistance from the Latvian authorities on July 28.

Unless the situation changes, the PPA will deploy more teams to Latvia until the end of September, rotating every two weeks. In total, four units will be sent.

Vaiko Vaher, prefect of the Police and Border Guard Board's South Prefecture, said the situation on the Latvia-Belarus border has not changed.

"On average, more than 100 people attempt to cross illegally from Belarus into Latvia every day, and in recent weeks some of them have continued on to Estonia. The Latvia-Belarus border is the place where it is possible to curb the migratory pressure reaching us," he said in a statement.

"This is not a distant concern that only our southern neighbors have to deal with, because the Latvia-Belarus border is both NATO's and the European Union's external border. By contributing there, we are jointly helping to keep the European Union's external border free of illegal activity," Vaher explained.

Rain Järv, commander of the third ESTPOL rotation, said the team is made up of a diverse team consisting of instructors, patrol police officers and border guards who work on a daily basis in the South, West and East prefectures

"During the rotation, we have the opportunity to practice practical cooperation with the Latvians and other neighboring countries that are also supporting Latvia in managing the migratory pressure. In addition, assisting Latvia allows us to become familiar with situations arising during a hybrid attack, so that we are prepared if something similar should occur in Estonia," he said.

The third ESTPOL11 rotation that departed for Latvia on Monday will remain with Estonia's southern neighbors until mid-August.

Hybrid attack

Migrants have been crossing the Belarusian border into Latvia, Lithuania and Poland since 2021, in what European officials say is a manufactured hybrid attack orchestrated by the Belarusian regime. The issues started after the EU sanctioned Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Migrants cross the border and then try to travel onto western or northern Europe.

Last year, Germany and Poland introduced checks on their borders in an attempt to stop people smugglers. Several drivers transporting migrants have been stopped at the Polish-Lithuanian border, and now the flow has redirected northwards, the PPA said last week.

Over 80 have been caught in the last two weeks in Estonia, compared to 39 last year.

Estonia has sent units to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland since 2021 to assist on the Belarusian border.

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