"I talked to the Latvian interior minister today with whom we have maintained constant contact on the backdrop of events in Lithuania. Considering the fact that the border guard has detained 28 people who crossed the border between Latvia and Belarus illegally in the last 24 hours, we have reinforced border checks in Estonia. There is presently no migration pressure on Estonia," Minister of Internal Affairs Kristian Jaani said.

Ivo Utsar from the PPA border guard department said that the decision was made to step up border control in light of events in Latvia. "The PPA's main focus is on borders, while we also have patrols checking people inside Estonia. We are carrying out thorough checks in the ports as we cannot rule out illegal migrants looking to find their way to Northern Europe through Estonia," the police colonel said.

Utsar added that the PPA has added patrols on the Estonia-Latvia border. "What this means for people in the area is police officers checking people's identification documents as well as cars, buses, trucks etc. more often."

He also urges anyone who sees groups of foreign-looking people who might have crossed the border illegally to report it by calling the 112 emergency hotline.

The PPA is monitoring the situation on the Estonian border for signs of potential illegal migration pressure. "We stand ready to take further measures to protect the Estonian border should the need arise," Utsar assured.

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