Latvian Visa- Free Border Zones With Russia And Belarus: What Are They And Why

Yelieyeu, Andrei. Latvian Visa Free Border Zones With Russia And Belarus: What Are They And Why. Riga: Latvian Institute of International Affairs, 2013.

The working paper "Latvian visa-free border zones with Russia and Belarus: what are they and why" looks into the specifics of the Latvian local border traffic (LBT) regimes with Belarus and Russia. It presents characteristics of the border areas under the Latvian LBTs and gives a graphic representation of the respective Latvian regions. Legislative measures to counteract resale of excisable goods in the threshold of the introduction of the LBT regimes are reviewed and the Latvian LBT regimes in comparative perspective are examined. Finally, he working paper looks into the question why Latvia holds the lead among the Baltic States in widening borders. The reasons behind Belarus's readiness to launch the LBT regime with Latvia in contrast to its position towards Lithuania and Latvia and the Russia-Lithuania contradictions over bilateral LBT are explained.