Latvia expels Belarusian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Latvia on Monday expelled Belarusian diplomats in response to actions taken by Belarus, reported Xinhua.

Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on its website that Latvian Ambassador to Belarus Einars Semanis was summoned on Monday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, "where he was notified of the decision ordering diplomats from the Embassy of Latvia in Minsk to leave the country. The Ambassador is to leave Belarus within 24 hours, while other diplomats are given 48 hours. One administrative staff member will remain at the Embassy to go on with the work."

"In response to the actions taken by Belarus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia has summoned the Charge d' Affaires, a. i., of Belarus to inform him of reciprocal measures including the expulsion of Belarusian diplomats until a time when the relationship returns to normal," the statement read.

Earlier, in response to the "forced diversion of Ryanair's commercial flight to Minsk National Airport on Sunday", Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics had called on the Minister of Transport to prohibit airlines registered in Latvia from using the airspace of Belarus. He also called for halting cooperation with Belarusian carriers.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei told local media on Monday that the Latvian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in connection with the insult of the national flag of Belarus in Riga.

The minister said the Belarusian side demanded that the Latvian authorities conduct an investigation, apologize and put back the national flag of Belarus.

The Latvian capital of Riga is hosting the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and has the flags of the participating countries raised in the city center. On Monday, authorities in Riga reportedly replaced the Belarusian national flag with an opposition flag following the flight diversion incident.

Irish airline Ryanair said in a statement on Sunday that its flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius were notified by Belarusian authorities of "a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk," adding "nothing untoward was found."

The flight later took off again and landed in the Lithuanian capital at 9:25 p.m. (1825 GMT) Sunday night after the seven-hour detour.

In an updated statement on Monday, Ryanair "condemns the unlawful actions of Belarusian authorities," calling it "an act of aviation piracy."

"This is now being dealt with by EU safety and security agencies & NATO. Ryanair is fully cooperating with them and we cannot comment further for security reasons," it informed.