Latvia closes border for Belarusian cars

Official Riga announced its intention to prohibit the entry of cars with Belarusian license plates into its territory. This decision was taken by the Latvian State Revenue Service. This ban implies that the car owner may be subject to the strictest punitive measures, including the confiscation of the car. The Latvian side insists that this decision was taken within the framework of the 8^th package of anti-Belarusian sanctions of the EU, although this particular restriction is not provided by the package. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry called the Latvian move openly hostile. The ban comes into force today, July 16.