Entry of Belarusian vehicles into Latvia banned

(Patria) - The Latvian parliament yesterday voted to ban vehicles registered in Belarus from entering the country from November, in order to prevent Ukraine's enemies from circumventing international sanctions, reports RSE.

Officials said Belarus had acted as a "back door" for getting sanctioned products from the EU into Russia, as they could be officially exported to Belarus before heading to Russia, AFP writes.

As this was the case, the European Union tightened sanctions against Belarus at the end of June to prevent sanctions evasion.

"Considering the new EU restrictions, which have been in force against Belarus since July 1 due to its involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine, vehicles registered in Belarus will be banned from use in Latvia, as well as from crossing the border into Latvia from Belarus or Russia," the Latvian parliament announced after adopting the new traffic law.

The parliament added that EU restrictions specifically "prohibit the entry of cars registered in Belarus into the EU via the Latvia-Belarus and Latvia-Russia border crossings".

Belarusian cars, trucks, and tractors already in Latvia – a NATO and EU member and a staunch supporter of Ukraine – must either return to Belarus before October or be re-registered with EU license plates.

The only exception is for modified vehicles for people with disabilities and cars with special permits.

Any vehicle registered in Belarus will also be allowed to transit through Latvia once, if its route is previously approved by the Latvian authorities. Similar measures were introduced for Russian carriers earlier this year.