On November 13 and 14, the State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Dimitrijs Trofimovs, visited Druskininkai, Lithuania, where a meeting of delegations from the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Polish Ministries of the Interior was held to discuss current security challenges on the countries' eastern border.
During the meeting, an agreement was reached that it is essential to continue to coordinate and inform the European Union about the challenges we face on our external border. It is important that the challenges on our border are adequately assessed and supported.
D. Trofimovs noted: 'To combat various hybrid threats on the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Polish borders with Belarus—including the instrumentalization of migration, smuggling, and various provocations—enhanced border surveillance, the use of modern technical solutions, and close mutual cooperation are necessary. The security and stability of the region depend on this.'
During the visit, D. Trofimovs, the State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, was presented with an award from the Lithuanian Border Guard for close cooperation.
The delegations also visited the Druskininkai Border Control Point and the Raigardas Border Crossing Point, and familiarized themselves with the recently constructed fence and other technical solutions installed on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border to ensure national security and control illegal movement across the border.
The delegation representatives had the opportunity to learn about the effectiveness of the technological solutions, the necessity of their maintenance and practical application, and to discuss innovations and possible improvements to strengthen national security and ensure continuous border surveillance.
EU support is vitally important for the strengthening and modernization of the eastern border. EU co-financing, provided for example through the Border Management and Visa Instrument (2021-27), plays a decisive role in implementing technical solutions for border surveillance and generally strengthening border surveillance capacity.
