Poland begins enforcement of European Union ban on cars registered in Russia

Poland on Sunday (September 17) started enforcement of a European Union ban on all Russian-registered passenger cars which sought entry in the country. This is the latest in a series of sanctions taken against Russia after it invaded Ukraine.

As per the decision of the EU, motor vehicles which have been registered in the Russian Federation will no longer be allowed to enter the 27-member bloc.

“A car registered in Russia has no right to enter Poland,” said Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski on Saturday, while announcing the ban which came into effect hours later at midnight.

“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,” said Kaminski.

The step was adopted just days after vehicles with Russian licence plates were banned from entering the territory of the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – a joint move which was in accordance with the recent interpretation of the sanctions imposed by the EU on Moscow.

The Baltic states and Poland have remained the most vocal European critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

European Commission's sanctions are 'racist': Russia

Deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday (September 12) denounced the move of the European Commission as racist. He stated that Moscow could retaliate by recalling its diplomats from Brussels and cutting diplomatic ties with the EU.

Poland shares a border with Kaliningrad, a Russian territory which is an exclave separated from the Russian mainland. The Border Guard agency stated that the ban would remain the same and would not vary from border to border.

WATCH |Trump says had he been in office, Russia-Ukraine War wouldn't have begun | World news | WION

Along with Kaliningrad, Poland has Ukraine and Belarus on its eastern borders. Otherwise, the country is bordered by NATO allies Germany, Slovakia, Czechia, Lithuania and the EU, where they do not have any border checks.

The website of the Border Guard stated 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.”

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE