The last of the seven conclusions of Monday evening's European Council on Belarus is the expression of “solidarity with Latvia” after the “unjustified expulsion of Latvian diplomats” by the dictator Alexandr Lukashenko's regime.

The dispute between Belarus and Latvia, which spread to Lithuania on Tuesday, touches the core of Lukashenko's wrestling with the protest movement, even the question of Belarus’s identity.

On Monday, in front of a hotel in the Latvian capital Riga, the state flag of Belarus - it is green and red with red and white folklore elements on the edge - was exchanged for the white, red and white flag of Lukashenko's opponents.

The hotel accommodates participants of the ice hockey world championship, including Belarusians.

Friedrich Schmidt

Political correspondent for Russia and the CIS in Moscow.

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    Originally Belarus and Latvia were supposed to host the tournament together, which the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) wanted to adhere to despite all the repression.

    But with the threat of not sponsoring the tournament, the sponsors Nivea, Skoda and Liqui Moly forced the IIHF to withdraw it from Belarus.

    Now the repression is catching up with Lukashenko again: Riga evaluated the flag exchange as a reaction to the diversion of flight FR4978 and as support for all victims of repression.

    Backed by the Kremlin

    White-red-white was the flag of the short-lived, independent People's Republic of Belarus from 1918 and that of the country's first four years of independence from 1991. Lukashenko had the flag replaced in 1995 with one that was almost exactly the same as that of the Belarusian Soviet Republic, as he promised the return to all that was good. Lukashenko uses the fact that collaborators of the German occupiers in World War II also used the white, red and white flag to defame the opposition; soon the use of the flag as "rehabilitation of Nazism" will be punished. Those who show them risk raids, arrests and worse, as the case of Roman Bondarenkos shows: In November, the regime's henchmen, who were distant from Minsk, had white, red and white ribbons, the activist confronted them and was beaten so much that he died.Green-red or white-red-white is a matter of life and death.

    Lukashenko's regime reacted to the flag operation on Monday evening by expelling all Latvian diplomats: the ambassador had to leave Belarus in 24 hours and the other employees within 48 hours. Only one person was allowed to stay to take care of the embassy building. Latvia responded accordingly. On Tuesday morning, the administration of the capital of Lithuania hung the protest flag at the Vilnius City Hall, for the same motives as the Latvians. When asked for comment, Lukashenko's Foreign Ministry replied that "medical specialists" should be asked. But the dictator also got backing: the Kremlin spokesman criticized the Latvian initiative as an “outrageous event”.