19 December 2013, 21:23
President of Lithuania: I won't go to Sochi Olympics because of Russia's policy
The Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has stated that she will not go to the Olympic Games in Sochi, indicating human rights violations in Russia and foreign policy factors as her reasons.
"In this situation, when there are obvious human rights violations, as well as the attitude and behaviour with the Eastern partners, including Lithuania, and the economic sanctions applied to Lithuania, I see no political opportunity to go to the Olympic Games in Sochi," Dalia Grybauskaite said in Brussels, as quoted by the DELFI.
In October, the Russia's "Rospotrebnadzor" (Federal Agency for Consumer Supervision) suspended the import of dairy products from Lithuania; and in September, Lithuanian carriers were put under particular scrutiny at Russian customs, the newspaper "Vedomosti" reminds.
Let us remind you that earlier the decision not to go to Sochi for political reasons was made by Viviane Reding, the vice-president of the European Commission and the EU Commissioner for Justice. She explained her decision by the persecution of minorities in Russia.
On December 8, it became known that the President of Germany Joachim Gauck would not go to Sochi Olympics. German mass media reported that the President's statement was caused by his discontent with human rights violations. Later, officials of the German Olympic Committee explained that Mr Gauck's decision not to go to Sochi had nothing to do with the boycott of the Olympics.
