EU financial support bolsters border guard preparedness for emergencies and crowd management

On March 12, the final examination of the professional qualification development program “Emergency Situations at the National Border” took place at the State Border Guard College.

Within the framework of the three-week program, the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of State Border Guard officials necessary for the implementation of the emergency situation plan “Mass Unrest” were improved, ensuring effective action at the national border.

At the conclusion of the program, practical exercises were conducted in a simulation of the emergency situation plan “Mass Unrest” on the external land border. State Border Guard officials acquired crowd control tactics following the best practice examples of the Special Tasks Battalion of the Resource and Crisis Management Department of the Main Public Order Police Department of the State Police.

Within the framework of the project, it is planned to implement several inter-institutional cooperation practical trainings and simulations in 2026 to test and improve the functionality of effective European integrated border management.

The State Border Guard College is implementing the project No. VRK/RPVP/2025/3 “Strengthening of cooperation and training capacity of border security agencies in Latvia for the effective implementation of European integrated border management,” approved under the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy 2021–2027, for which the managing authority in Latvia is the Ministry of the Interior.