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The guesthouses of Latvia's Land of Blue Lakes are empty due to fear of Ukrainian drones

Martins Kiscenko, the owner of Birdwhistles, said that all eight rooms at the guesthouse in a rustic, two-storey wood barn located in the Latvian forest, 50 km away from the Russian border were vacant. This is something that never happens during this time of the year.

The couples who had booked two wedding parties cancelled them at the last minute because they did not want to make their guests scramble to find shelter in case of a drone alert.

Eastern Latvia has a beautiful and tranquil woodland area known as Land of Blue Lakes. There's not much to do in this region, so tourists flock there every summer.

Fishing in the clear, cold waters. Birdwatching. Hiking in forests of birch trees straight as poles. After a long day of hiking, you can end the trip by singing folk songs in your cozy cabin.

Tourists are staying away from the region because they fear being forced to seek shelter in the event of an attack by Ukrainian drones.

No drones have been seen for the past two weeks. This gave hope that things had improved. On Monday, however, a French NATO aircraft was forced to shoot down another drone.

Kijasko said, "Now we know it won't be easy", hours after the incident.

Since March, stray Ukrainian military drones are entering the airspace over Latvia and its Baltic neighbours. The NATO and Kyiv countries claim that Russian signal jamming diverted the weapons from their intended targets in Russia.

The incursions are not causing any harm, but they have caused the residents to be regularly ordered to take shelter. This is impossible in Kiscenko’s wooden guesthouse. It has no basement and heavy walls. "That wasn't a requirement when i built it," says Kiscenko dryly.

Two?drones exploded last month in the middle town of Rezekne where tourists usually come to see a ruined castle on a hilltop. Two other drones caused a fire at an oil storage facility near the town of Rezekne.

Authorities are trying to convince Latvians to continue to holiday as normal in the region. Prime Minister Andris Kuulbergs plans to spend his summer holiday 'in the region', according to his spokesperson.

It may already be too late. Kijasko stated that a survey of her association of tourism business showed that 85% faced cancellations because of drone fears. Some businesses lost over half their future business.

Kijasko said that tourists should not stay away.

She said, "We live in this area and don't really feel threatened." "The likelihood of a car accident in Riga being much greater than having a drone land on your head is very high." (Editing by Peter Graff).

(source: Reuters)