RIGA, May 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Latvia yesterday expelled Belarusian diplomats, in response to actions taken by Belarus.
Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, Latvian Ambassador to Belarus, Einars Semanis, was summoned to the Ministry “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.”
Earlier, in response to the “forced diversion of Ryanair’s commercial flight to Minsk National Airport on Sunday,” Latvian Foreign Minister, Edgars Rinkevics, 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 yesterday 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, apologise and put back the national flag of Belarus.
The Latvian capital, Riga is hosting the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, and has the flags of the participating countries raised in the city centre. On Monday, authorities in Riga reportedly replaced the Belarusian national flag with an opposition flag, following the flight diversion incident.
Irish airline, Ryanair said, 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 yesterday, 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.
