The association has called on the government to abandon the idea of closing the border crossing. Industry representatives believe such a measure would negatively affect Latvian carriers and deal a heavy blow to the country’s economy.

The organization notes that if the crossing is closed, cargo flows would not disappear but would simply shift to Lithuania and Poland. As a result, Latvia would lose transit revenues, jobs in Latgale, and a portion of the international transport market.

Latvijas auto also criticized the decision-making process. The explanatory memorandum to the draft did not analyze possible alternatives or the economic consequences of closing the crossing. Furthermore, the draft does not specify the duration of the restrictions or a mechanism for their subsequent review.

Another issue raised by carriers is the situation that has developed over the past few days. Since 31 July, the border crossing has effectively been non-operational, leading to a significant buildup of trucks at the border.

According to association representatives, the border closure came as a complete surprise to the transport industry, with carriers not being warned in advance of such measures.

Meanwhile, Latvia’s Ministry of the Interior is proposing that the government officially suspend the operation of the Paternieki border crossing. If the Latvian Cabinet approves the initiative, it would mean that neither passengers nor freight traffic would be able to cross the border through the previously only operational road crossing.

On 31 July, Latvian Minister of the Interior Jānis Dombara announced that the country had temporarily suspended border crossing with Belarus. Citizens who had not managed to return to Latvia were advised to use other routes for entry.

Later, the Belarusian State Border Committee informed that there were no issues on the Belarusian side and that the Grigorovshchina border crossing continued to operate. They noted that traffic through the Grigorovshchina-Paternieki crossing on the Belarusian-Latvian border had been halted as of 23:00 on 31 July at the initiative of the Latvian side, citing technical reasons.