Latvia recalls its ambassador in Minsk

The Latvian foreign ministry on August 2 recalled the country's ambassador to Belarus, Maira Mora, an official at the ministry told BelaPAN. The official said that Ms. Mora had been recalled for “political consultations about the current situation between the two countries.”

Earlier in the day, the Latvian foreign ministry declared the first secretary at the Belarusian embassy in Riga persona non grata and ordered the diplomat to leave the country within 24 hours.

It said that the diplomat had “performed actions that are incompatible with the status of a diplomat,” without specifying.

The move came amid an escalating diplomatic row over the treatment of Reimo Smits, the second secretary of the Latvian embassy in Belarus.

This past Sunday, the First National Channel, also known as Belarusian Television or BT, aired what appeared to be hidden camera footage of gay sex, claiming that the Latvian diplomat was involved.

The Latvian foreign ministry reacted angrily, saying that it was “one more provocation against the Latvian state and its diplomat and is a serious violation of the standards and practices of diplomatic law.”

“Such steps leave a very bad impression on bilateral relations and never remain without a response,” it stressed.

A week earlier, police raided the diplomat's apartment in Minsk, allegedly seizing videocassettes and CDs containing pornographic material. Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov said that the diplomat was facing a pornography charge.

The Latvian foreign ministry accused Minsk of breaching the 1961 Vienna convention on the treatment of diplomatic staff and sent a protest note to the Belarusian foreign ministry, demanding an explanation. It has not yet received any official reply.