Norway bans cars with Russian license plates

This is reported by the Associated Press.

On Friday, 29 September, Norway announced that starting next week it will begin to ban cars with Russian registration from entering the Scandinavian country.

"Norway stands in solidarity with allies and like-minded people in countering Russia's brutal war of aggression," Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement.

The ban means that cars registered in Russia with nine or fewer seats will no longer be able to cross the border into Norway. Buses and minibuses with ten or more seats will still be able to cross the border at Storskog, the only border crossing between Norway and Russia.

The government in Oslo has said that exceptions will be made for diplomatic vehicles, for vehicles belonging to Norwegian citizens and their family members permanently residing in Russia, and for travel required for humanitarian reasons such as acute illness, death, or family funerals.

Norway said its ban would take effect on Monday at midnight.

The ban on entry for cars with Russian license plates 

As a reminder, on September 10, as part of the sanctions, the European Commission banned Russians from entering the EU countries in cars registered in Russia, as well as from importing personal belongings of Russians, such as smartphones, jewelry, and laptops.

In addition, Lithuania has imposed a one-year ban on the transportation of dual-use goods through the country and from it to prevent them from reaching Russia and Belarus.

On September 13, Estonia banned cars with Russian Federation license plates from entering the country, as they are subject to sanctions. Lithuania and Latvia adopted a similar ban the day before.  

On September 15, Finland announced its support for the EU sanctions against Russia by banning the entry of Russian cars. The purpose of this step is to prevent the circumvention of sanctions.

On September 17, Poland banned cars with Russian license plates from crossing its border.