Lithuania's foreign ministry on Friday said it was expelling two Belarusian diplomats for "activities incompatible with the status of a diplomat". "Two BY intelligence officers working under the diplomatic cover were asked to leave Lithuania. No thank you and goodbye," Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis added on Twitter. The ministry statement said a representative of the Belarusian embassy was summoned to receive a protest "against the continuing repressions of Belarusian civil society and the independent media". Landsbergis said the move was also in solidarity with Lithuania's Baltic neighbour Latvia which saw its entire embassy staff expelled from Belarus. The action by Minsk was in response to Latvian authorities earlier this week hoisting a Belarusian opposition flag at a hotel used by participants in an ice hockey championship. Belarus has come under intense international pressure after diverting a Ryanair flight and forcing it to land in Minsk on Sunday before arresting a dissident journalist on board and his girlfriend. The EU has banned Belarusian airlines, urged EU airlines not to cross Belarusian airspace and threatened tough economic sanctions on President Alexander Lukashenko's Kremlin-backed regime. saj-dt/amj/bp