Border Guards Break Records Again: 22 Tourists Get Lost Heading Toward Belarus
While Riga's tourism agencies are still figuring out how to attract visitors, our eastern border has become an unexpectedly popular destination.
The State Border Guard reports another successful workday - on Tuesday, 22 attempts by illegal migrants to cross the Latvia-Belarus border were prevented. In total, 103 people have already tried to enjoy our hospitality this year without prior reservation.
For comparison - more buses stop at Tošele station in a week than we've had uninvited guests at our border this year. But this only proves that even a suburban Liepāja bus stop is more popular than Lukashenko's tourism routes.
The government has extended the enhanced border security regime until the end of June, which means residents of Ludza, Krāslava and Augšdaugava municipalities can feel like movie heroes. Except the movie isn't about assassins, but about how our border guards have become unexpectedly effective tourism consultants.
Last year, 12,046 people chose the unsuccessful route through Belarus to Latvia. For comparison - fewer tourists travel through Riga Airport annually than we turn away at the border. Which proves - our border has become a more popular destination than the capital itself.
As local border guard Valdis says: "It's like the Tošele bus stop here - everyone knows this is where you get off, but not everyone understands you have to walk the rest of the way." For humanitarian reasons, 31 people were still admitted, which proves - even our border guards are more cordial than Riga public transport inspectors.
⚠️ Satirical article. Facts are preserved, but the presentation is humorous. For accurate information, please refer to the original source.