Latvia Plans to Erect Anti-Migrant Fence on Border With Belarus

Latvian authorities are planning to construct a fence on the border with Belarus to prevent illegal migrants from attempting to get into the European Union.

RIGA (Sputnik) — Latvia will build a fence on the border with Belarus on 2017 to protect the border from illegal crossings, State Border Guard Chief Gen. Normunds Garbars said.

"The next year's budget includes funds for the drafting of the project of border strip on the Latvian-Belarus border," Garbars said, as quoted by the TVNET broadcaster as saying on Saturday.

He did not specify either the exact amount of money to be allocated for the project, or the expected length of fence segments at the Latvia-Belarus border.

In 2015, Latvia announced it would build fence areas at the 276-km border between Latvia and Russia in order to protect against illegal migrants entering the European Union. In March, the construction of the fence was started.