President Valdis Zatlers is asking state and Rīga officials to develop an action plan to ensure the safety of foreign tourists visiting Latvia’s capital city, the president’s press office announced April 29.

In a letter to Interior Minister Linda Mūrniece, Economics Minister Artis Kampars, Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš and Rīga Mayor Jānis Birks, the president said he is concerned with the inability of government institutions to guarantee tourists’ safety and prevent damage to Latvia’s reputation.

The criminal and administrative codes provide enough power to penalize those who break the law, Zatlers said in the letter. He criticized authorities as being either incompetent or unwilling to enforce the law.

A number of foreign governments have for months been warning about increasing dangers facing tourists in Latvia’s capital.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office, for example, warns of “an increased number of reports recently of foreign tourists being charged extortionate prices for drinks in bars or having fraudulent transactions debited against credit/debit cards.” The warning adds that some tourists have been assaulted or forced to withdraw money from automatic teller machines.

Similarly, the U.S. State Department cautions tourists in Latvia.

“Street crime is a serious problem, particularly for tourists,” warns the department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. “In addition to pickpockets in all public areas, there are numerous scam artists targeting foreigners in the tourist pubs and restaurants.”

Non-Caucasian foreigners and “individuals displaying alternative lifestyles” have been victims of verbal and sometimes physical harassment, the bureau adds.

Recently Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation has warned that Rīga is bad news for Finnish tourists. More than 40 cases of crimes against Finnish tourists are suspected to have occurred in 2008, according to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

The latest issue of the Latvian tourism trade magazine Tūrisms devoted its cover story to the problem of taxi drivers and bar owners who cheat customers. According to the magazine, about 10 bars in Rīga are particularly problematic.

More than 5.2 million foreign tourists visited Latvia in 2007, according to the Central Statistical Bureau in Rīga.

Following a 2-0 victory over Austria, Latvia has advanced to the qualifying round of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship and will next face hometown team Switzerland.

The game was played before a crowd of about 5,200 hockey fans in the PostFinance Arena in Bern.

Latvia got its first goal with just 45 seconds left in the first period, according to a game summary posted on the IIHF’s Web site, www.iihf.com. Mārtiņš Cipulis shot the puck past Austrian goalkeeper Bernd Bruckler. Herberts Vasiļjevs and Kārlis Skrastiņš were credited with the assist.

The two sides went scoreless through the second period. With just more than five minutes left to play in the third period, Latvia’s Guntis Dzeriņš made it 2-0 with help from Miķelis Rēdlihs.

Latvia had 37 shots on goal, compared to 21 for Austria. Edgars Masaļskis guarded Latvia’s goal.

Latvian players earned a total of 31 minutes in the penalty box, compared to Austria’s 18.

With the victory, Latvia finished third in its preliminary round group. The United States was first and Sweden second. Austria, last in the group, will be sent to the relegation round.

Latvia will go up against Switzerland in a game scheduled at 20:15 hours Swiss time April 30.

If Austria plays as poorly as it has so far, Latvia should have little trouble advancing out of the preliminary round of this year’s International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship underway in Berne, Switzerland.

Latvia, with a 1-1 record, faces 0-2 Austria on April 29. If Latvia wins, it will advance to the qualifying round.

Latvia already has gone up against the United States, losing the April 25 game 4-2, and upset Sweden on April 27 in a 3-2 shootout victory.

Austria, on the other hand, has been clobbered 7-1 by Sweden and 6-1 by the U.S.

In its game against the U.S., Latvia was the first to score, according to a game summary posted on the IIHF Web site, www.iihf.com. Four minutes, 40 seconds into the first period, Herberts Vasiļjevs scored on a power play with assistance from Aleksandrs Niživijs and Mārtiņš Cipulis. America’s Jack Johnson answered at 11:15 with help from John Michael Liles and Kyle Okposo.

At 6:39 into the second period, Mārtīņš Karsums scored Latvia’s second goal with assistance from Ģirts Ankipāns and Jānis Sprukts. But less than five minutes later Drew Stafford tied the score for the U.S. and then Johnson made it 3-2.

Patrick O’Sulllivan, aided by Ron Hainsey and Dustin Brown, added one more goal for the U.S. during the third period.

For the game, the U.S. had 38 shots on goal against Latvia’s netminder Edgars Masaļskis, while Latvia tried 20 times to score against America’s Robert Esche. Both teams accumulated 8 minutes in the penalty box.

During last year’s World Championship in Halifax, Canada, the U.S. beat Latvia 4-0 in the preliminary round.

Latvia did not get a chance to play Sweden last year, but this week surprised its opponents with a 3-2 victory.

The Swedes got on the scoreboard first, according to the IIHF game summary, when Linus Omark score at 15:26 into the first period. He was assisted by Johan Harju and Martin Thornberg.

The Latvians answered twice during the second period, making the score 2-1. At 10:20 Krišjānis Rēdlihs shot the puck past Swedish goaltender Stefan Liv, aided on the power play by Ankipāns and Karsums. About nine minutes later Lauris Dārziņš scored with help from Miķelis Rēdlihs and Rodrigo Laviņš.

Sweden tied it up at 10:44 into the third period when Magnus Johansson, helped by Loui Eriksson, took advantage of a power play to score against Latvia’s Masaļskis.

That took the game into overtime, but when neither team scored, into a shootout that Latvia won 3-2.

For the game, Latvia had 22 shots on goal to Sweden’s 40. Latvian players spent 10 minutes in the penalty box compared to the Swedes’ six.

Last year in Halifax, Latvia almost made it to the quarter-finals, but finished 11th overall. Russia won the 2008 championship.