STOCKHOLM, September 29. /TASS/. Norway has decided to ban cars registered in Russia from entering its territory from October 3, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, the Kingdom, following the example of EU countries that have a land border with Russia, specifies that the ban on imports of, in particular, passenger cars registered in Russia with nine or fewer seats also includes a ban on intermediate imports. Norway is, however, introducing some exemptions. The changes will come into force at midnight on October 3, the foreign ministry said.
"Passenger cars registered in Russia with nine or fewer seats can no longer be imported to Norway, even temporarily. However, these rules do not apply to cars with ten or more seats. Therefore, the crossing of the [Russian-Norwegian] border by, for example, minibuses and buses through the Storskog checkpoint remains possible," the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said.
According to the Foreign Ministry, exceptions will be made for Norwegian nationals and citizens of the European Economic Area (which includes EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) living in Russia, as well as their family members. In addition, the restrictions will not apply to diplomatic cars and humanitarian emergencies (acute illness, death or funeral of a close relative).
Norway is not a member of the EU and has not previously banned Russian-registered cars from entering its territory. Norway, Finland and Sweden are part of the Schengen zone with unified border control. Earlier, a ban on the entry of cars with Russian registration was introduced by the Finnish side. Oslo announced that it was going to follow the example of Helsinki.