Latvian Interior Minister Janis Dombrova (National Alliance) stated that one of the reasons for the technical problems at the "Paternieki" border control point was that the installed surveillance cameras were not connected to the State Border Guard unit.
He mentioned this in the pre-election discussion program TV24 "Let's Talk Honestly," reports nra.lv.
Recall that since July 31, it has been impossible to conduct border control at the "Paternieki" checkpoint due to technical failures in the information systems. The State Border Guard recommended using the Mēdininkai and Šalčininkai checkpoints on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Later, the government decided to temporarily suspend the operation of the checkpoint.
According to Dombrova, other technical problems were identified during the inspection.
"Cameras were installed but were not connected to the State Border Guard unit."
This statement surprised the participants of the discussion.
"What is this? How is this even possible?" — reacted the program host Armand Puče and other participants.
The minister stated that such problems were inherited from the previous leadership of the Ministry of the Interior.
"I inherited quite a few such surprises from the previous minister. In this case, regarding the cameras, an order was given to connect them to the State Border Guard unit as quickly as possible, which I am sure has already been done."
The chairman of the parliamentary Defense, Internal Affairs, and Corruption Prevention Commission, Raimonds Bergmanis, admitted that he was hearing about such a reason for technical malfunctions for the first time.
"I have questions, and I think, as the chairman of the Defense Commission, I will definitely ask them."
In his opinion, even with modern technical means, the main problem remains the lack of trained personnel.
Bergmanis emphasized that effective border protection requires not only equipment and digital technologies but also well-trained staff capable of responding quickly to threats:
"You cannot send a person who has just completed one training course to the 'green' border. People need to be trained, they need to be cared for."
He also reminded about the death of a Polish border guard and noted that on the Belarusian side, there are special centers where migrants are taught ways to illegally cross the border and counteract border services.
Leave a comment