The mayor of Paris about Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Olympics (video)

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said in an interview that Russian and Belarusian athletes “will not be welcome” at the Olympic Games in the French capital.

About it, writes AFP, Hidalgo said during a trip to the Ukrainian capital, where she visited a training center for Ukrainian athletes:

“I want to tell Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris.”

🚨 Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo: "Russian and Belarusian athletes are NOT welcome at the Paris Olympic Games!" #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/5L27ZyBTJ2

— Blood Games 2024 (@BloodGames2024) March 30, 2024

She also expressed support for Ukrainian athletes and the entire Ukrainian people. “Paris will welcome you like heroes, you will feel at home in Paris,” she said.

The Olympic Games in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11. The Paralympic Games are scheduled for August 28-September 8. Russian athletes can only participate in them in a neutral status, only in single sports and if they are not associated with military departments or security agencies. In addition, Russia and Belarus were banned from participating in the opening ceremony, which will take place on the Seine River in the center of the French capital. Russian teams in some sports refused to participate under such conditions.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said in January 2023 that she supported the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in the Olympics under a neutral flag. A few weeks later, Le Monde writes, Hidalgo changed her position, saying that there was no such thing as a neutral flag. She noted that in France they are not going to honor a country that attacks another.

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, in response to Hidalgo’s statement, suggested that the Russian side “pick up some French products, which are now widely represented in Russia, and declare that “they will not be welcome.” According to Zakharova, after this “representatives French business will storm the Paris City Hall, following the farmers.”

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