In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, since Saturday, Russian and Belarusian freight carriers have been refused permission to cross the European Union (EU) external border. The EU has adopted new sanctions against Russia and Belarus, which in the field of transport prohibits road haulage companies from these countries and also prevents vessels under the Russian flag from accessing ports.
EU sanctions also provide for certain exceptional cases where lorries may cross the EU border, such as agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid, and postal transport. Vaivars said that information on such cases has not yet been collected.
He also added that drivers denied entry into Latvia on Saturday had not yet been informed of the EU ban. However, according to informal information available to the VID on Sunday drivers were no longer attempting to cross the border.
