Estonia and Latvia have banned cars with Russian license plates from entering the country from the external border. This was done after the recommendation of the European Commission to consider the entry of private cars into the EU as an illegal import. Earlier, the Lithuanian authorities announced restrictions on entry: entry to the country is now possible only for transit to Kaliningrad and back.
Estonia’s Minister of Internal Affairs Lauri Läänemets stated that the entry ban aims to “increase the price of aggression” for Moscow and “force the aggressor country to retreat to its borders [с Украины]” his words are quoted by the newspaper “Postimees”.
In Latvia and Estonia, they explained that cars can enter from the internal border, from other EU countries. Lithuania did not provide such explanations. All countries noted that the restrictions apply to both citizens of the European Union and people with residence permits in the EU and in the Baltic countries in particular.
The head of Lithuanian customs, Darius Zvironas, said on the air of the LRT radio station that in the future, the European Commission’s clarifications may also apply to cars already on the territory of the EU. “I believe that every citizen of Russia, who has a car registered in Russia, should take care and drive this vehicle to third countries,” he said, the speech was quoted as translated by the Delfi website.