The Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), an NGO founded by the Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, has appealed to the Baltic states to reconsider their ban on cars with Russian licence plates to enter their territories, Meduza has reported.
A letter from the FBK, shared by the organisation’s chairwoman Maria Pevchikh, says that the restrictions harm opponents of Putin’s regime who are forced to leave their country. In addition to making sanctions less effective, the FBK argues that the restrictions discredit the very idea of sanctions and give new arguments to Russian propaganda.
In addition to FBK, Russian politicians Lyubov Sobol and Maxim Katz appealed to European authorities to reconsider the restrictions that include a ban on bringing into the EU not only cars registered in Russia, but also a range of everyday items such as laptops and smartphones.
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In her letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell, Sobol asked the European authorities to clarify exactly how the new restrictions would work. According to her, the European Commission’s “contradictory and vague” formulations do not affect Moscow’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine and do not harm the interests of Russian political elites.
Katz, meanwhile, has appealed to EU Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness. In his letter, he noted that the new restrictions contradict the original meaning of sanctions, as they apply to ordinary Russians rather than targeting individuals and groups responsible for Moscow’s policies.
Katz stressed that private transport remains one of the few ways for Russians to quickly leave the country and escape political persecution or mobilisation. Moreover, he argued, things imported by Russians for personal use do not bring additional income to Russia.
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Last Friday, the European Commission issued a clarification on how EU countries should apply the ban on imports of sanctioned goods from Russia, including cars, personal clothing and hygiene items. Following the resonance, the EC clarified that customs authorities should focus on imported cars, while the ban on other items should be applied “in a proportionate and reasonable manner”.
The Lithuanian and Latvian authorities announced on September 11–12 that they would ban cars with Russian number plates from entering their territories based on the recommendations of the European Commission. Estonia introduced a similar ban on September 13.
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