“President Zuzana Caputova is not considering attending the Winter Olympics in Beijing,” stated the Slovak President’s Office on Thursday adding that Caputova had not been planning on doing so anyway due to the pandemic. According to the Office, the President shares the reservations due to which several political representatives have refused to attend the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China. Also on Thursday, Slovak Parliamentary Speaker Boris Kollar announced he was not going to Beijing for the Winter Olympics either. According to the head of Parliament, Slovakia should coordinate its stance in connection with the diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, announced by several states, in cooperation with the European Union. Earlier this week, the USA announced that it would boycott the upcoming Olympics at a diplomatic level, citing the "genocide" of the Uyghur people in China and other violations of human rights. The USA has been joined in this regard by Canada, Australia and the UK in the meantime. Meanwhile, Slovak MEP Miriam Lexmann reported on Wednesday that she had co-initiated a call on the heads of EU institutions as well as the top three Slovak officials to boycott the Olympics in Beijing diplomatically.
Source: TASR
