Norway closes border to Russian vehicles in latest sanction
Norway announced on Friday that it would close its border to vehicles registered in Russia, except in a few cases, as a further measure against Moscow in response to the war in Ukraine, according to AFP, cited by Agerpres.
Norway and Russia share a 198-kilometre land border in the Arctic, as well as the Storskog-Boris Gleb border crossing, which, within the European Economic Area (EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), is the last crossing point left open for Russians with a tourist visa.
"Norway stands with its allies in response to the brutal war of aggression that Russia is waging in Ukraine," Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement.
"It is important that sanctions are effective so that we can stop as much of the revenue that the Russian state needs to finance the war," she added.
The Scandinavian country is not a member of the European Union, but has adopted almost all of the sanctions taken by Brussels since the outbreak of the war on February 24, 2022.
By closing the border to Russian vehicles from the night of October 2-3, Norway is adopting a measure similar to that taken by the EU countries bordering Russia (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland) in accordance with the recommendations of the European Commission.
On the other hand, Moscow reacted by saying that the restrictions are "absurd."
The ban applies only to vehicles with fewer than nine seats and provides for some exceptions, such as cases of humanitarian emergency and diplomatic vehicles or vehicles belonging to European citizens with residence in Russia.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
