“The introduction of the ban means that cars with Russian number plates will be banned from entering the country,” Valtonen said at the conference, which is referred to by the English branch of the Finnish newspaper Yle.
In addition, Valtonen announced that those cars with Russian license plates that are still on Finnish territory must leave Finland within six months, i.e. by March 16, 2024. “We have coordinated this matter with our partner countries,” the Finnish minister said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
As he further stated Finnish paper in another message, the new ban will not apply to a car with a Russian license plate owned by a citizen of the European Union with a permanent residence in Russia, a member of his family or a diplomat.
Finland follows the Baltic states
The move by the Finnish authorities follows the decisions of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which banned the entry of all vehicles registered in Russia earlier this week.
This happened after the European Union issued a directive calling on member states to ban Russians from entering the EU with their cars or other “personal belongings.”
The goal of this decision is to prevent Russian citizens from circumventing sanctions imposed on Moscow for a full-scale and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Wednesday that the restrictions will have a greater impact the more countries join them, as the price Russia will pay for the war will increase.
Lithuania has banned the entry of cars with Russian license plates
2023-09-15 12:21:06
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