{"id":95613,"date":"2024-07-15T14:54:34","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T11:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/95613\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"latvia-to-ban-entry-of-passenger-cars-with-belarusian-license-plates","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/95613\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvia to ban entry of passenger cars with Belarusian license plates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n Hryharo\u016d\u0161\u010dyna-Paternieki border crossing\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Belarusian State Customs Committee)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

July 15, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Starting July 16, persons driving passenger cars with Belarusian license plates will be prohibited from entering the European Union through checkpoints on the Latvian border with Belarus and Russia, lsm.lv<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian drivers will have to return from the checkpoint to the country from which they intended to enter Latvia or else their vehicle may be confiscated, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ban, which does not apply to diplomatic vehicles, would help Riga ensure compliance with EU sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia’s justice ministry is reportedly drafting a bill prohibiting vehicles with the Belarusian plates to stay and transit via Latvia. Belarusian vehicles already present in Latvia will have to be re-registered. A similar ban is already in force for vehicles registered in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Latvia closed the Silene border crossing at its shared border with Belarus indefinitely, citing concerns about illegal migration. The move left Paternieki as the only operating checkpoint between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 29, the EU adopted a new package of sanctions against Belarus, punishing Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s support of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brussels extended the ban on transportation of goods by road by trailers and semi-trailers registered in Belarus or operated by Belarusian companies\u2019 subsidiaries abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU-based companies, in which Belarusian nationals or companies hold more than 25-percent, are prohibited from doing business and transporting goods by road in the EU, including transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus in 2020, two years before Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine, accusing its government of vote rigging and human rights abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian defense sector was targeted later for supplying arms to Russia and circumventing Western sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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