Latvia is moving to ban all bus service to Russia and Belarus.
A ban on irregular bus routes took effect on November 1, 2025. Now Latvia’s Ministry of Transport has drafted amendments that would also prohibit scheduled service — including routes that merely pass through Latvian territory in transit, the news outlet Delfi reports.
Once the amendments are approved, the Ministry of Transport said, the state Road Transport Administration will issue individual administrative orders revoking permits for specific carriers under the Administrative Procedure Law.
“The availability of regular routes to Russia and Belarus, alongside other travel options, increases the risk that Latvian citizens will encounter situations involving influence and recruitment,” the ministry said.
Carriers that lose their licenses will be entitled to compensation, the ministry said, with payments to be made under the Administrative Procedure Law as well.
The carrier Ecolines estimates its direct losses from a ban on routes to Russia and Belarus at roughly four million euros a year, with additional losses from idle buses amounting to approximately two million euros a year, according to the explanatory documents accompanying the draft regulation.
Latvian authorities have repeatedly urged residents to avoid traveling to Russia and Belarus, and the State Security Service has warned of recruitment risks. In the fall of 2025, opposition National Alliance lawmakers demanded that the Ministry of Transport explain why scheduled bus service had not yet been suspended in light of those warnings.
Buses between Latvia and Russia and between Latvia and Belarus often sit at state border crossings for many hours while customs and border checks are carried out — passengers can, among other things, be called in for a “conversation” with officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) — but they remain one of the cheapest ways to travel between European countries and Russia or Belarus.
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