The draft law had been tabled by members of the National Alliance.
Since February 14, vehicles with Russian license plates have been banned from road traffic in Latvia. During this period, the State Police has recorded one offender - the driver's Lada car was confiscated and a fine of €750 was imposed. There are exceptions when a car with Russian license plates can be driven on Latvian roads, such as in transit.
The draft law on Belarusian-registerd cars had not previously been supported by the committee responsible. "The draft law was weak - it could not simply copy what was done for Russia. There should have been thorough exceptions, for example, refugees taking their families to be freed from the danger of the Lukashenko regime. There is also a problem with the offer of what will be done - whether confiscated or whether something will be put on the wheels of the cars. There were also discussions about the fines, how they will be collected," Skaidrīte Ābrama (Progressives), head of the Saeima Committee on National Economy, Agrarian, Environmental and Regional Policy, explained to Latvian Radio.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that it is a political decision whether to ban vehicles registered in Belarus from road traffic in Latvia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also points out that the European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia and Belarus are different - the EU sanctions do not currently restrict the entry of Belarusian-registered cars into the EU territory.
"Other EU countries, such as Lithuania and Poland, have not imposed such restrictions. So far, for mainly humanitarian reasons, no bans identical to Russia's have been imposed on vehicles registered in Belarus," the Foreign Ministry explained.
At the same time, the Ministry has confirmed its readiness to discuss the need for such a decision and the conditions for its implementation.
