Belarus and Latvia mutually ousting all embassy officials

<p> MINSK, May 24 - PrimePress. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has suggested that the Latvian ambassador and embassy workers leave the country following an incident with the Belarusian flag in the Latvian capital of Riga, Belarus’ Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makey told reporters on Monday. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The Belarusian national flag in front of the Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija in downtown Riga, where teams participating in the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship are staying, was replaced with a white-red-white banner on Monday. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “A note of protest has been handed to the ambassador. We cannot let such provocations go unanswered so we suggested that the ambassador should leave Belarus in 24 hours, the embassy’s diplomatic and technical staff should leave in 48 hours, and only one technical employee can stay to maintain the embassy building,” the Belarusian foreign minister said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> In turn, Latvia is expelling Belarus’ ambassador and all the diplomats of the Belarusian embassy in response to Minsk’s demand that the Latvian ambassador and all embassy employees leave the country, TASS reported on Monday. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Latvian foreign ministry spokesman Janis Bekeris has confirmed that in response to the decision of Belarus, the Latvian foreign ministry summoned Belarus’ Charge d’Affaires to notify the Belarusian side about a similar step in respect of Belarusian diplomats until the relations between the countries are normalized. End </p>

2021-05-25

Primepress