Lower thirds:

00:12 Report by / Juri Rescheto
00:27 Vadims Gričkovs / Latvian Border Guard
01:19 Valdis Jukss / Latvian Border Guard

Script:

0:00
Latvia says Belarus is using migration as a tool of hybrid warfare. 

0:08
+++ Juri on camera +++
"This narrow hole in the ground is the end of a secret tunnel. The Latvian Border Guard says 28 migrants used it to cross illegally from Belarus into Latvia."
 
0:19
Authorities found them shortly after in the nearby town of Kraslava in eastern Latvia. 

0:26
+++ SOT Vadims Gričkovs, Latvian Border Guard +++
"We used a service dog. The dog came here and showed us this place.  Our border guard checked all this area and found this tunnel."

0:35
Most of the men are believed to be from Afghanistan. It's not the first attempt to cross the EU's border underground. 

0:42 
+++ Juri on camera +++
"Here in the Baltics, authorities believe Belarusian border guards are not just failing to stop this migration. They say it is part of Belarus' hybrid warfare strategy against the West."  
 
0:54
The border between Latvia and Belarus is 172 kilometers long and is protected by a modern border fence built only a few years ago. Last year, authorities stopped around 12,000 people from crossing illegally. In the first half of this year alone, that number has already reached 10,000. Belarus is a close ally of Russia.  

1:17
+++ SOT Valdis Jukss, Latvian Border Guard +++
"This has been going on since August 2021: hybrid attacks and the instrumentalization of migration, with migrants being deliberately directed to the border between Latvia and Belarus. At present, it can be said that Latvia has been chosen as the target country." 

1:38 
+++ Juri on camera +++
"Just a few days ago, Latvian border guards found another tunnel in Silene, only a few kilometers from here. That tunnel also led from Belarus, over there, into Latvia, on the EU's eastern border." 
 
1:50
In neighboring Lithuania, border guards recently uncovered twelve illegal tunnels as well. They say 40 irregular migrants were arrested after coming out of the tunnels. 

2:02 ((MAP))
The Lithuanian Belarusian border is even longer, stretching some 700 kilometers. Border guards believe migrants are unlikely to build such tunnels on their own and suspect technical support was involved. 
 
+++ SOT Border Guard +++
"This tunnel is approximately 30 meters long and seems to be the work of engineers."

But according to authorities, neither Latvia nor Lithuania is the migrants' final destination. Most are trying to reach Western Europe, especially Germany. The goal, western authorities say, is to destabilize Europe. 

END