‘A Ceuta-style surge is possible’: Border tensions on NATO’s eastern flank

Masked and armed men attempted to cross into Latvia from Belarus alongside 20 undocumented migrants on Monday.“The (masked) escorts of the illegal migrants, who were located on the Belarusian side, were armed, issued threats to … soldiers, and also actively urged and drove the migrant group toward Latvia,” Janis Dombrava, Latvia’s interior minister, said on Tuesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Is Europe preparing for a wider war with Russia?list 2 of 4Russia warns NATO of possible nuclear response if Kaliningrad is cut offlist 3 of 4Latvia’s governing party wins parliamentary elections by wide marginlist 4 of 4Belarus frees 25 political prisoners in return for US sanctions reliefend of listThe group was stopped by the military.Later, masked men managed to enter Latvia, destroying an electrical box and stealing surveillance cameras before returning to Belarus – an act of sabotage orchestrated by the country, according to Latvian officials. It was not clear if the second incident involved the same masked men as the first.“Unlike many previous incidents, this time the provocation was particularly demonstrative and aggressive,” said Dombrava.Since 2021, Belarus, Russia...