Police carrying out spot checks on Estonian-Latvian border

TALLINN - Due to the sharpened security situation, the police are carrying out spot checks of vehicles on the Estonian-Latvian border, the Estonian daily Postimees writes.

Rauno Roosimagi, head of the crisis preparedness bureau of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, said that the police have been carrying out random checks of vehicles on the Estonian-Latvian border since last summer, when the situation at the borders of Belarus and the European Union escalated. "We are doing this so that Estonia cannot be used as a transit country for illegal migration," he said.

He added that in a situation where there are still many people in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland who may try to use Estonia for illegal migration to Finland or Sweden, a clear signal must be sent that the probability of being caught by the police in Estonia is very high.

"We will continue to send out additional patrols to check vehicles arriving from the south, additional patrols are checking ship passengers at the ports of northern Estonia," Roosimagi said.

On Sunday, 14 police officers from the West Prefecture checked visitors to Estonia in Haademeeste rural municipality, where they were also assisted by the employees of the Tax and Customs Board. A total of 453 vehicles were inspected, including five buses. Police caught one Latvian citizen without the right to drive, who was removed from traffic. A number of minor offenses were also identified, regarding which police officers issued only warnings.

Those arriving in the country were also randomly checked on Sunday by the police of the South Prefecture in southeastern Estonia, where no violations of the law were detected.