Context: Vilnius warned Minsk that if the launches of weather balloons carrying contraband cigarettes continue, Latvia and Estonia will show solidarity with Lithuania. Some media interpreted this as a readiness to close the border with Belarus, even though Estonia does not share a border with it.
If Latvia shuts its border with Belarus, the country’s already difficult economic situation will only get worse, CTV host Volha Korshun said on the November 16, 2025, edition of “The Nedelya” (“The Week”), pointing to rising prices in neighboring countries as an example:
“Latvia, in a show of solidarity with Lithuania, is threatening to close the border as well. How that will affect ordinary Latvians is something Riga apparently isn’t thinking about. It certainly won’t add any stability. And inflation in the Baltic republic is already rising, along with prices. According to the country’s Central Statistical Bureau, the biggest increases were in coffee, beef and eggs. Their prices jumped by 35%, 28% and 21% respectively.”
In Latvia, prices did rise over the past year — by 5.6%. Food and nonalcoholic beverages saw the biggest increases. Leading the list, just as the CTV host said, were coffee, beef and eggs. Also rising sharply were chocolate and butter. However, Korshun left out the fact that during the same period, prices in Belarus were rising faster than in Latvia — by 75%. In October 2025, annual food inflation reached 9.8%. And the list of products that rose in price by more than 20% is longer here than across the border. It includes about twenty items.
For example, the price of cocoa powder has nearly doubled. Apples, cucumbers and coffee are now about 1.5 times more expensive. The already mentioned coffee has become more expensive in Belarus than in Latvia. Chocolate, candy and cornflakes are up by one-third. Peas, beans, frozen fish, processed cheese and honey have risen by one-quarter, and caviar, tomatoes and chips are up by just over 20%.