Estonia has decided to no longer permit entry into the country for vehicles with Russian licence plates.
The decision to ban entry to all Russian-registered vehicles was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna.
Minister Tsahkna said that Russians are not welcome in the country and stressed that banning cars with Russian licence plates from entering Estonia is the right thing to do.
Starting from today, Estonia will deny entry to all Russian-registered vehicles. They are not welcome here to enjoy the privileges freedom has to offer until Ukraine has achieved victory.
The ban, which officially became effective today, September 13, will apply not only to private vehicles but also to company transport operations, the authorities have revealed.
Commenting on the ban, the Minister of Interior of Estonia, Lauri Laanemets, said that the country’s decision follows the clarifications made by the EU Commission on sanctions compliance.
Moreover, Minister Laanemets said that Lithuania and Latvia could also soon impose an entry ban on Russian vehicles.
We found in consultation with Latvian and Lithuanian authorities that restrictions are most effective when jointly enforcing sanctions.
In line with the guidelines of the EU Commission, the entry ban for vehicles applies regardless of the driver’s ground for their stay in Estonia or any other country of the EU, ERR explains.
Now that the decision has become effective, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board will be responsible for carrying out the necessary procedures when a vehicle with Russian plates arrives at an Estonian border checkpoint.
The driver of the vehicle subject to the entry ban will then be required to return to Russia or cross the border without the vehicle.
The Estonian authorities are also planning to raise the issue of Russian-registered cars that are currently in the country.
Following the new EU sanctions, the Russian Embassy in Helsinki already warned all citizens to travel to the bloc in cars with Russian licence plates.
The embassy said that their cars could be confiscated and advised everyone to avoid travelling to Finland with their Russian-registered cars.
A similar warning was also issued by the Russian Embassy in Berlin. The latter said that all Russians should avoid travelling to the country due to the possibility of having their vehicle confiscated.
The Commission of the EU just recently confirmed that nationals of Russia are banned from taking any personal items when travelling to the bloc, including personal cars, smartphones, perfumes, and soaps, among others.
The move was criticised by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, who said that the EU is being ‘racist’ for their approach towards Russians.
