Over the year, the Security Police interrogated 4,500 foreigners at the border wishing to enter Latvia from Russia or Belarus. 1,119 were deemed too risky and sent back.
The report by the Minister of the Interior R. Kozlovskis to the Cabinet of Ministers titled "On Improving the Legal Regulation of the Stay of Citizens of Third Countries in Latvia" is interesting because it for the first time allows us to extract quantitative indicators of the activities of local counterintelligence from an open source.
"The State Border Guard, in cooperation with the Security Police, continued enhanced control over foreigners entering Latvia in 2024. As part of the checks, officials at border crossing points examined and conducted in-depth interrogations of 4,500 foreigners wishing to enter Latvia from Russia or Belarus.
As a result of this work, the Security Police identified 1,119 risks to the national security of Latvia created by foreigners at border crossing points over the year, in cooperation with the State Border Guard, denying these individuals entry into the territory of Latvia.
In 2024, as a result of these enhanced security checks, entry into Latvia was denied to 30% more foreigners than in 2023.
Additionally, in 2024, the Security Police also conducted 6,704 checks of visa applicants and 15,412 individuals applying for residence permits. The service issued negative conclusions for 233 visa applicants and 156 individuals wishing to obtain a residence permit. The most common reasons for the service's recommendation to deny a residence permit were identified risks during the checks and failure to provide requested information."
Furthermore, the Security Police checked 14,650 foreigners who had received invitations or calls in Latvia – whether they were guest workers invited by companies, family members of residence permit holders, etc.
As reported by bb.lv, in the first half of 2025, the leading countries for work permits in Latvia were: Uzbekistan – 3,121 (for the entire year of 2024 – 6,048), India – 1,469 (2,095), Belarus – 1,365 (3,176), Ukraine – 873 (2,356), Tajikistan – 861 (1,556).
