Riga explains disrespect for the Belarusian flag President of Latvia Egils Levits said in an interview with TV3's "900 Seconds" program that the decision to replace the Belarusian flag on the flagpoles of the countries participating in the World Ice Hockey Championship came as an adequate political reaction. According to Levits, it also came as a message to everyone else signalling that Latvia does not recognize the regime in the neighboring country. The incident took place on Monday, May 24, in Riga, near Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija. The Mayor of Riga, Martins Stakis, personally took the official flag of Belarus down and replaced it with a red-and-white flag. According to Levits, the subsequent decision from Belarus to expel all Latvian diplomats from the country was a reaction