On Tuesday, September 8, the Cabinet of Ministers approved amendments to the “Regulations on Technical Means Necessary for Border Inspection and Border Surveillance”, which means that State Border Guard officials will be able to use unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) during border surveillance.
At present, the regulations do not provide for unmanned aircraft as a border surveillance tool that the State Border Guard is entitled to use for state border surveillance. Therefore, border guards use helicopters as the only type of aircraft, which serves as an effective tool to prevent illegal migration, illegal movement of excisable goods and other security threats at the state border, as well as to support the activities of other state institutions. However, there are some disadvantages to the use of helicopters: the relatively high cost of operating helicopters, the dependence on meteorological conditions and the limited flight times of helicopters, which can be avoided by the use of drones in border surveillance.
International experience shows that drones are actively used for patrolling national borders, and when assessing the benefits of using drones, it must be concluded that they are an effective means of risk prevention (for obtaining and using early information).
At present, the State Border Guard has unmanned aerial vehicles at its disposal, which can be used for control of state borders, border zones and border regime, state borders at sea, surveillance of territorial sea and inland waters, search, prosecution and coordination of detention.
Prepared by:
Samanta Nalivaiko
Ministry of the Interior
Communication departments
Public relations specialist
Phone: 67219082
E-mail: samanta.nalivaiko@iem.gov.lv