On the 12th of September, the Latvian Saeima passed in the final reading amendments to the Road Traffic Law, banning vehicles registered in Belarus from staying in Latvia.
Amendments to the law provide for vehicles registered in Belarus and remaining in Latvia are to be re-registered with the Republic of Latvia by the 31st of October 2024.
The law provides for two exceptions. Exceptions will apply to persons with reduced mobility who drive a specially equipped vehicle registered in Belarus and enter for the purpose of visiting relatives. The Minister of Foreign Affairs will also be asked to consider an application to enter Latvia on special issues related to the interests of the country.
In exceptional cases, persons will have to request permission from the Financial Intelligence Service to enter the territory of Latvia, which may be issued for a period of up to three months.
A vehicle registered in Belarus is registered regardless of the period during which the vehicle is located in Latvia and participates in road traffic and regardless of the nationality of the owner of the vehicle.
After the set deadline, Belarusian vehicles will be allowed to enter Latvia only for transit through the territory of the country and only once by applying in advance for the e-services provided by the Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD).
It is planned that in case of non-compliance with the new regulation in Latvia, it will be possible to confiscate vehicles registered in Belarus for the benefit of Ukraine, supporting Ukrainians “in the fight for their country’s independence”.
As reported, from the 16th of July onward, the State Revenue Service (VID) denies persons with vehicles registered in Belarus – passenger cars – entry into the European Union (EU) through the Latvian-Belarusian and Latvian-Russian border crossing points.
In order to reduce the risks of circumvention of sanctions, the EU, by approving the current sanctions package against Belarus, has to a large extent aligned the sanctions imposed on Belarus with those imposed on Russia, the VID emphasized. It is stipulated that it is prohibited to import goods from Belarus that allow Belarus to diversify its sources of revenue, thus allowing it to engage in Russian aggression against Ukraine if these goods originate in Belarus or if they are exported from Belarus. Passenger cars are also included.