Latvian officials explained that the border closure was due to technical problems with the information systems. Traffic was completely halted from 23.00 on 31 July. On Saturday, 1 August, Latvian authorities provided no further comments.

However, LSM journalists noted that the day before the closure, Latvian Interior Minister Janis Dombrava advised Latvians to cancel any plans to visit Belarus and urged those who had already traveled there to return home as soon as possible.

Journalists also note that Latvian authorities have repeatedly urged citizens not to travel to Belarus for some time now. However, such appeals have failed to resonate among the Latvian public.

«Every month, thousands of Latvian residents cross the border into Belarus to see relatives, to go to resorts and go shopping, despite years of warnings from security services and the Foreign Ministry urging them not to do so,» LSM reported back in February of this year.

The closure of the only operational border crossing between Latvia and Belarus, Paternieki (Grigorovshchina on the Belarusian side), caught drivers completely off guard. Among those affected were both heavy truck drivers and ordinary citizens heading to Belarus for holidays or to visit family members.

«There were no announcements at all. Nobody said anything... This morning they announced that the border was closed, but no one knows for how long,» said Hardijs, a truck driver from Jūrmala. He is transporting medicines to Minsk from a Latvian pharmaceutical company. The transit route cannot be changed. «We have special cargo and can only cross through this border point. We cannot go through Lithuania or any other border checkpoint.»

Another driver, Wojtek, is also hauling freight. The decision to keep waiting at the border or turn back must be made by his employer.

«What do we think? Nothing. We’re workers. We’re waiting. We have some food. How long will we stay? I don’t know. I think we’ll wait until Monday, and then maybe head home. Whatever the boss decides, that’s what we’ll do,» Wojtek said.

Drivers also noted that there is not even basic infrastructure on the Latvian side to accommodate a queue.

«This is one of those rare border checkpoints with no parking for cars at all. No toilets, no café, no water. Drinking water is simply running out,» said Pavel, a long-haul trucker from Kazakhstan.

Some drivers did not hide their frustration.

«They think people won’t travel. Well, fine. I’m heading to a health resort. Everything is paid for starting today. In Belarus it’s cheaper and better. This is my ninth time going,» Aldis, a driver from Preiļi, told LSM.

By Saturday evening, many drivers had left Paternieki, the Latvian television channel reported. Some continued their journey via Lithuania, while others turned back home.

«I thought it would be resolved within an hour, but now nothing is happening, and nobody knows how long this will last or how serious the consequences will be. I’ll probably have to turn around and go through Lithuania,» Juris, a driver who had been planning to visit relatives in Belarus, told LSM.

LSM journalists note that the greatest frustration among drivers stranded at the border stems from the uncertainty and lack of information. People simply do not understand whether the border will reopen and when that might happen.

«At this point, the Ministry of the Interior is not commenting on or explaining the situation, limiting itself to vague references to ‘technical reasons’,» LSM concludes.

It should be noted that on the Belarusian side, there are no issues and the Grigorovshchina border checkpoint continues to operate normally. Traffic has been halted at the initiative of the Latvian side.