In support of the responsible sectors - the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice is currently drafting and will submit to the Saeima Committee on National Economy, Agrarian, Environmental and Regional Policy draft amendments to the legal framework that will prevent vehicles registered in Belarus from staying in the Republic of Latvia, including crossing the state border in transit. It is planned that evasion of the requirements set out in the legislation will result in the confiscation of vehicles registered in Belarus in favour of Ukraine, supporting Ukrainians in their fight for independence. A similar regulation developed by the Ministry of Justice is already in force in Latvia for vehicles registered in Russia.
Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Minister of Justice, says: "Russian cars are already banned from staying in Latvia. At the same time, we see that cars registered in Belarus are often used to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia. Belarus is complicit in Russia's genocide against the Ukrainian people, providing political and military support and allowing its infrastructure to be used to carry out attacks, so Latvia must act. The decision reached at European Union level stipulates that, from now on, crossing the border in a vehicle registered in Belarus, and therefore being in Latvia, will be a violation of the sanctions. It is only logical that we align the regulations applicable to Belarus and Russia."
The planned changes to the regulatory enactments will oblige owners of vehicles with Belarusian registration plates entering the territory of Latvia to re-register these vehicles in the Republic of Latvia within a certain period of time, as well as to determine the consequences and liability of persons in case of non-compliance with these obligations. It will also prevent the owners of these vehicles from evading liability for non-compliance with road traffic rules. Failure to re-register the vehicle or to leave Latvia will result in sanctions, including confiscation of the vehicle. It is also foreseen that vehicles registered in Belarus will not be allowed to use the road for transit through Latvia.
It is planned that if a Belarusian vehicle not registered in Latvia is found to be used in road traffic, it will be confiscated and handed over to Ukraine free of charge for general support to Ukrainian society in its fight against the aggressor state.
Latvia is acting in coordination with Lithuania, Estonia and Poland to ban the entry of cars registered in Belarus. The Ministry of Justice bases the changes in the legal framework on the European Union's decision to approve the 8th sanctions package, largely aligning the sanctions imposed on Belarus with those imposed on Russia. This is important to reduce the risks of circumvention of the sanctions imposed on Russia.