On 17 August 2020, the Head of the Bilateral Relations Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ilgvars Kļava, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Latvia, Vasily Markovich, to submit a note of protest on behalf of Latvia concerning the detention of Latvian citizens and to express a position on the actions by Belarusian authorities.
According to information at the disposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 10 to 13 August, Belarusian law enforcement forces arbitrarily detained two Latvian citizens, and they were subjected to both physical and psychological violence. The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs demands that Belarusian authorities undertake a full investigation into the incident, hold the perpetrators responsible and provide information on the findings of the investigation.
Offering a principled political evaluation of the presidential elections held in Belarus, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the elections of 9 August 2020 were neither free nor fair. To resolve the situation, new presidential elections should be held, organised by a new Belarusian election commission and in the presence of international observers.
The Ministry strongly condemns the use of force by Belarusian authorities against the participants of peaceful protests and demands that the detained protesters be immediately released. Officials who allowed for violence and transgressions of human rights must be held accountable and punished.
The Ministry also calls on the Belarusian Ambassador to inform Minsk that no external enemy should be sought to resolve domestic problems in Belarus. The attempts at presenting the Baltic States and NATO as being hostile to Belarus can further aggravate the current complicated relationship with Minsk officialdom.