Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Protest at the Ice Hockey World Championship
Belarus flag exchange causes scandal
In response to the hijacking of the passenger plane by Belarus, the city of Riga, the location of the Ice Hockey World Cup, is replacing the official flag of Belarus with that of the opposition. The world ice hockey federation, whose president maintains good relations with Alexander Lukashenko, doesn’t like it at all.
A flag exchange on the sidelines of the ice hockey world championship in Latvia continues to cause a stir. The protest action by the Riga city administration has met with criticism from the World Ice Hockey Federation IIHF. That is not acceptable, said IIHF President René Fasel. Latvia’s President Egils Levits, on the other hand, defended the exchange of the official flag of Belarus, which was replaced on Monday by the white, red and white variant of the Belarusian opposition. The flags of all World Cup participants are currently waving in several public places in the Latvian capital.
The background to this is the forced landing of a passenger plane in Minsk on Sunday and the arrest of an opposition activist who was on the plane on the way from Athens to Vilnius. Two passengers from the EU and NATO country Latvia were also on board the machine.
The world association has made contact with the mayor of Riga and hopes that the city will reconsider its decision, said the IIHF. The Belarus flag will not be exchanged at the official venues. The city should also remove the flags with the logo of the IIHF and the World Cup from the places where the flag was exchanged. The players had nothing to do with the actions of the Belarusian government.
Levits, on the other hand, described the protest on Latvian television as an “appropriate political response”. It is a sign of the non-recognition of the ruling regime in Belarus, which has violated international law and endangered international air traffic, he said. After the flag exchange, the authoritarian leadership in Minsk had expelled all Latvian diplomats from Belarus, to which Latvia responded with the same step.
The Ice Hockey World Championship, which will run until June 6, was originally intended to be hosted by Belarus as a co-host. After massive protests over the machinations of ruler Alexander Lukashenko, the country was withdrawn from the tournament. Riga is therefore the sole venue for the World Cup.
Several months ago, Fasel met Lukashenko in Minsk, which had a devastating international response. According to his own statement, Fasel wanted to call for more human rights in Belarus and tougher measures in the country against the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, intimate pictures with hugs went around the world.
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