On 26 July, with one year remaining until the Paris Olympic Games, the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian foreign ministers made a public appeal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to stress that restrictions on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions must remain in place as long as the war against Ukraine continues.
The foreign ministers acknowledged the recent IOC statement that Russia and Belarus will not receive official invitations to the 2024 Summer Olympics, but stressed that the athletes of these countries must certainly not be given the opportunity to return to the Olympic arena in Paris under the veil of neutrality. ‘Russia has always used sports as a tool of politics, and in recent years, we have seen how the aggressor also uses the presence of ‘neutral’ athletes in international competitions as a part of its national propaganda, thus legitimising its political decisions. That is why one of the largest and most influential sporting organisations in the world should neither allow nor recommend any mitigations of the restrictions imposed on athletes from Russia as well as Belarus, who is also taking part in the war,’ Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, said.
Tsahkna added that the growing concern of athletes and sporting organisations around the world over the possible decision to allow athletes from aggressor countries to compete alongside Ukrainians, who must meanwhile defend their country and freedom, cannot be ignored. ‘Due to the war, many Ukrainian athletes do not even have the chance to return to the international sports arena, and hundreds of them have been killed or injured. Additionally, Ukrainian sports facilities have been destroyed by the targeted attacks of Russia on civilian infrastructure,’ he said.
Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian foreign ministers called on the IOC to protect the principles of the Olympic Charter and to seriously reconsider its approach regarding the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the upcoming Olympic Games. ‘This has to be done for the sake of the Ukrainian sporting community, athletes around the world, and future generations who deserve to live in a world where aggression as a political tool has been completely discredited and the values we hold dear have been maintained,’ the foreign ministers stressed.
