In areas where even border posts did not previously disturb the landscape, heavy machinery is now digging a trench along the border between the NATO Baltic region and Russian territory.
Riga will allocate approximately 303 million euros over the next five years for a major project to build fortifications on its border.
“We plan to dig anti-tank ditches along the border, as you can see here, and then reinforce them with ‘dragon’s teeth,'” says Kaspar Lazdins, an officer of the Latvian Armed Forces.
A fence was erected around the Terehova border crossing in 2019 to block the passage of undocumented migrants trying to enter from Russia.
Major military fortifications will soon be added to this border area as part of what Riga calls its “plan to strengthen the eastern border.”
“The border doesn’t bother us, we’ve lived with it our whole lives and no longer pay attention,” says Inna Dukshta, an employee in the administrative office of Pasiene, a village near the Terehova crossing.
“We don’t know if tanks will come, but of course, we’re afraid of it,” says a young local, Yulia, when asked to comment on developments at the nearby Russian border.
Nikolai, an older resident, does not share this fear. “It would be better to invest these 303 million euros in roads,” he says. “If God forbid, war breaks out, these fortifications won’t save us anyway.”
Gennady, another pensioner, shares a similar view.
“I don’t know about this ditch,” he says. “In modern wars, nothing is more effective than diplomacy. Embassies should not be closed, diplomatic relations should not be broken. Only diplomacy will maintain peace.”, RSE writes.
E.Dz.
