Cars registered in Russia can no longer enter Latvia, but cars registered in Belarus can. And there are many of them at the Pāternieki border point.
Drivers of cars registered in Belarus at the border point said they were Belarusians, but Russians also had an interest in such cars.
Vitaly: “I've read on some news portals that maybe the Russians will try to rent out cars in Belarus to cross the border.”
Belarusians say it is more advantageous for them to drive to the remote Pāternieki point than through Lithuanian border points, for example.
Andrey: "the time to be taken to cross the border is big there, 12 or 15 hours. It's quicker here. We drove here from Minsk, it's a big detour for us, a lot of kilometers."
Behind the border point, there are also a couple of cars with car numbers registered in Russia.
Vaclav: “I am a citizen of the European Union, but I will no longer be allowed into the European Union by my car - this is nonsense!”
LTV: “But the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine?”
Vaclav: “What's that for me? I'm not interested in politics!”
Vaclav won't be back in Europe again. Vadims Grickovs, head of the Border Control and Immigration Control Service of the State Border Guard Daugavpils Administration, said that only a fraction of those who wanted to cross the border in Silene now go to Pāternieki.
"The flow of trucks did not change. Around 80-100 cars were inspected a day [before], and it is the same now. Of course the queue grew a bit. 450 vehicles are queuing up,” Grickovs said.
As LTV observed on Friday afternoon, the truck queue in Latvia starts about 12 kilometers from the border inspection post.
