According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has spoken out against the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in the Olympic Games, which will take place in Paris in the summer of 2024.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided in December 2023 that athletes from Russia and Belarus competing in individual sports will be able to participate in the Games in Paris with a neutral status.
During the Parisian Mayor’s visit to Kyiv on 28 March, Hidalgo said, “I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they will not be welcomed in Paris.”
Anne Hidalgo added that Paris will support Ukrainian athletes during the Olympics. “Paris will welcome you as heroes, you will feel at home in Paris,” she said.
In January 2023, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, supported the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in the Olympics under a neutral flag. A few weeks later, Hidalgo said, “There is no such thing as a neutral flag.” She emphasized that France does not intend to honor “a country that attacks another.”
In January 2023, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, said that the International Olympic Committee is “sweeping Russian war crimes under the rug” and “trampling on the graves of thousands of innocent people” by allowing Russian athletes to take part in the 2024 Olympic Games in neutral status.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview early in March that Russia will be asked to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics.
The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania released a joint statement in July 2023 expressing “deep concern” over the International Olympic Committee’s recommendation to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a “neutral” flag at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Summer Olympic Games will occur in Paris from 26 July to 11 August. The Paralympic Games are scheduled for 28 August to 8 September.
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