Polish government bans all Russian-registered passenger cars

Robert Besser
21 Sep 2023, 16:59 GMT+10

As part of EU sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Poland banned all Russian-registered passenger cars from entering its territory over the weekend
The move comes just days after the Baltic states -Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia - banned vehicles with Russian license plates from entering their territory as part of EU sanctions
In response, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said this week that the EU's move was racist

WARSAW, Poland: As part of European Union (EU) sanctions imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Poland banned all Russian-registered passenger cars from entering its territory over the weekend.

"A car registered in Russia has no right to enter Poland," Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said over the weekend.

"This is another element of the sanctions imposed on Russia and its citizens in connection with the brutal war in Ukraine, due to the fact that the Russian state today constitutes a threat to international security," he added.

The move comes just days after the Baltic states -Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia - banned vehicles with Russian license plates from entering their territory as part of EU sanctions.

In response, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said this week that the EU's move was racist.

Poland shares a land border with the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, an exclave separated from the Russian mainland.

The ban would be the same regardless of which border the vehicles sought to cross, the Polish Border Guard agency said.

Its website also said that Russian-tagged cars "will be returned to the non-EU country from which they came, regardless of whether it is Russia or another country. Such actions will be carried out even if the driver of the car is not a citizen of the Russian Federation."