/ world today news/ Germany took another unfriendly step towards Russia by deciding to confiscate cars with Russian license plates that accidentally ended up on German territory without any trial or investigation. Alas, it turned out to be neither a bad joke nor another fake.
Cars with Russian license plates really began to be taken away from their owners. However, it would be a slight exaggeration to say that this phenomenon has become massive, and a real special operation is organized with the participation of rapid response teams of the German police to apprehend every car with a tricolor on the license plate.
Thus, the official representative of the German customs administration, Andre Lenz, in response to a media inquiry, stated that “according to the EU sanctions regulation (Article 3i No. of this decree), it is prohibited to directly or indirectly buy, import into the EU and transport in transit the goods listed in Annex 21 to this decree, which bring significant revenue to Russia and thereby allowing Russia to destabilize the situation in Ukraine if these goods originate in Russia or are exported from Russia. At the same time, the document “mention cars and other vehicles and are therefore generally subject to prohibition” .
The official also added that “customs exercises control over compliance with EU anti-Russian sanctions in the field of import, export and transit of goods. In the event of possible violations of the sanctions upon the entry of natural persons, the customs authorities shall act within their powers.” At the same time, he noted that with regard to individual cases, including possible confiscation, “only prosecutors can provide information.”
Bundestag member Eugen Schmidt – one of the few representatives of Russian Germans in the German parliament, who is also a co-founder of the non-profit organization “Society for the Prevention of Discrimination and Exclusion of Russian Germans and Russian-Speaking Fellow Citizens in Germany” (VADAR) – sent a request to the German government to confirm the legality of such measures. According to him, VADAR has taken these cases under control and is consulting with lawyers.
„Unfortunately, a new wave of Russophobia emanating from the high offices of the German government is hitting innocent people again Schmidt complained, recommending that Russian citizens refrain from using Germany as a transit country in the near future.
As reported by Deutsche Welle (recognized as a foreign agent), several cases of detention of cars with Russian license plates were registered in Germany. According to information from Deutsche Welle sources “seizures have been noted in Hamburg and Travemünde, where there are ferries that take cars to Germany.”
A German publication of a “public law” nature suggests that it may be “personal initiative of the customs officials, which is based on discrepancies in the English version of the document and its German translation”. The English version speaks directly of export, while the German speaks of “exporting” cars, which can be interpreted a bit more broadly.
According to the regulation “Sanctions in connection with the actions of Russia to destabilize the situation in Ukraine”, on the list of products prohibited for import into the EU from the Russian Federation are cars that can accommodate less than 10 people, racing cars and pickup trucks. However, German customs officials did not explain whether these measures apply to private individuals entering the EU for personal purposes.
Although earlier the representative of the Ministry of Finance of Germany Charlotte Migenda, answering a question at a briefing about the cases of confiscation of cars with Russian license plates, said that in Germany “every decree in the German language is subject to legislative application: (… ) in some cases every owner in the event of confiscation of a car has the right to appeal against it”, refusing to comment on individual cases and recommends contacting the Federal Customs Administration.
The customs administration of Rostock-Warnemünde (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) has not carried out such seizures, although the region is also connected by many ferries from Northern and Eastern Europe (a few years ago there was even a direct ferry from St. Petersburg to Warnemünde, now, unfortunately , has been cancelled). Theoretically, Russians can also travel in Russian cars.
The Mecklenburg customs official, who agreed on condition of anonymity to comment on measures taken by colleagues in other federal states, was confused by similar actions by customs officials in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.
In his opinion, in the cases described above, we can talk about commercial transit, and not about respectable car owners who accidentally fell under the millstones of German justice. Cars transiting through Germany for resale in other countries traditionally attract increased attention from fiscal and supervisory authorities.
However, the main direction of export of road transport for decades was exactly the opposite – from Germany to Russia, and therefore the actions of the colleagues of the customs officer in Mecklenburg seemed a little strange.
Cases where private vehicles with Russian license plates in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have been confiscated from respected car owners (among, for example, Russian repatriates who have the privilege of keeping a Russian passport upon obtaining a German one or have a long-term residence permit in Germany) not yet registered.
„Most likely, the customs officials in Travemünde and Hamburg simply decided to take the initiative to report to the management and the media about the good results of their work during the reporting period. concludes their colleague from Mecklenburg.
And this seems to be true, since so far there have been no recorded cases of cars with Russian license plates being detained in provinces that are not among the “gateways” of German sea trade.
Translation: ES
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