Olympic peace: Russia denounces UN resolution
The Olympic Games will take place in Paris in summer 2024. The UN General Assembly calls on all nations to respect the "Olympic Truce". Russia and Syria abstain from a corresponding resolution. Until now, the truce had always been adopted without a vote.
The United Nations General Assembly has called on all countries in the world to respect the traditional "Olympic Truce" on the occasion of the Games in Paris in summer 2024. This symbolic resolution was criticized by Russia, which denounced "political interference" in sport.
The resolution, which was adopted with 118 votes in favor, none against and two abstentions (Russia and Syria), calls on the member states to "individually and collectively observe the Olympic Truce" from the seventh day before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris (July 26 to August 11, 2024) and until the seventh day after the end of the Paralympics (August 28 to September 8).
Cessation of all hostilities
He could "not remember a world in which there was so much confrontation, division and polarization", said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, appealing to "send a clear message to the world: Yes, we can unite even in times of war and crisis." Inspired by the ancient Greek tradition of "Ekecheiria", which demanded the cessation of all hostilities during the ancient Olympic Games, this "truce" was reintroduced by the United Nations in 1993 on the initiative of the IOC.
Previously, the Olympic Truce had always been adopted by consensus without a vote every two years before the Winter and Summer Games. This year, however, Russia demanded a vote and called it "unacceptable" that the text made no reference to the "principles of equal and non-politicized access" to sports competitions.
"The height of cynicism"
The IOC regards Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as a violation of the Olympic truce in connection with the 2022 Games in Beijing. "There is a dangerous tendency to interfere politically in sport and use it as a tool for political pressure," criticized Russia's deputy UN ambassador Maria Zabolotskaya, describing the "discrimination" against Russian athletes as the "height of hypocrisy and cynicism".
It is "in no way about discrimination against athletes, it is about compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter," said Bach, whose IOC had suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in October because it had brought several sports organizations in occupied Ukrainian territories under its control. Bach also regretted Russia's announcement that it would host its own "friendly games" in 2024.
Source: www.ntv.de
