The head of the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs called for the confiscation of cars with Russian license plates

Cars with Russian license plates in Estonia must be confiscated. Or their owners should re-register their cars. This opinion expressed the country’s Minister of Internal Affairs Lauri Läänemets at a government press conference.

“I believe that sanctions need to be implemented and these cars [с российскими номерами] must be confiscated. <...> If they move around the country constantly, then they must be registered in Estonia,” the minister said.

The Deputy Prime Minister added that he was expressing his own point of view, and not the general opinion of the government. He also noted that the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs does not know the exact number of cars with Russian license plates on the territory of the republic.

Estonia banned entry into the country for cars with Russian license plates on September 13. The authorities of the republic said that they introduced the restriction in accordance with the new recommendations of the European Commission for the governments of EU countries. However, the ban on entry into Estonia is not distributed by for buses, motorcycles and vehicles with diplomatic license plates.

The EC published new recommendations on September 8. They say that cars with Russian license plates should be prohibited from entering the territory of European republics. Also, the countries’ customs services were advised not to allow personal goods across the border, including mobile phones, laptops, cameras, suitcases, cosmetics, leather and fur products, semi-precious stones, toilet paper, shampoos and toothpastes.