"We cannot capitulate to evil": President of Latvia reacts to Pope's statement on the "white flag"

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs responded to Pope Francis' statement about a "white flag" that should be raised to end the war in Ukraine during an interview. The Latvian leader emphasized that it is impossible to capitulate in the face of evil.

Instead, evil should be fought to defeat it. Rinkēvičs wrote about this in his profile on the X network, formerly known as Twitter.

"My Sunday morning take: One must not capitulate in face of evil, one must fight it and defeat it, so that the evil raises the white flag and capitulates," the Latvian president said.

Rinkiewicz's statement refers to the phrase published the day before by Pope Francis, who called for negotiations in Russia's war against Ukraine. According to the Pope, one of the parties should show "the courage to raise the white flag".

This statement, given the use of the image of a "white flag" that is raised when one decides to surrender, was interpreted by many as the Pope's call for Ukraine to surrender.

Due to the scandal that arose over this statement, the Vatican decided to clarify it. The Vatican press service stated that the Pontiff was not referring to Ukraine's surrender, but to the need to start negotiations.

The Vatican insists that the image of the "white flag" was used by the interviewing journalist in his question, and the Pope used it in his answer, putting a different meaning to it than the generally accepted one.

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