{"id":777455,"date":"2026-02-20T16:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/777455\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T16:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:19:12","slug":"paralympics-russia-crisis-grows-as-ukraine-vows-ceremony-boycott-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/777455\/","title":{"rendered":"Paralympics\u2019 Russia crisis grows as Ukraine vows ceremony boycott \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/articles\/cpv84xy9ydro\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The IPC said<\/a> six Russian and four Belarusian athletes have been awarded invitations to compete at the Games in para-alpine skiing, para cross-country skiing and para-snowboarding. The committee lifted its broader suspension of the two countries in September, after previously allowing athletes to compete only as neutrals following Russia\u2019s 2022 full-invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The decision is now drawing political backing across Europe. EU Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/eu-boycott-paralympic-opening-ceremony-russia-belarus-glenn-micallef\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said he would skip the ceremony<\/a>, warning that the IPC\u2019s decision risked undermining solidarity with Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.err.ee\/1609947407\/estonia-to-boycott-milano-cortina-paralympics-opening-ceremony#:~:text=The%20EPK%20says%20it%20made,%2C%20and%20cross%2Dcountry%20skiing.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Estonia\u2019s Paralympic Committee has also condemned the move<\/a>, with its governing officials saying they will not attend the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>In Poland, the head of the national Paralympic Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/notesfrompoland.com\/2026\/02\/19\/polish-officials-to-boycott-paralympics-opening-ceremony-over-inclusion-of-russian-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">told Polsat News his organization was considering a boycott<\/a>, calling the IPC\u2019s decision \u201cscandalous\u201d and the result of Russian lobbying.<\/p>\n<p>Italy \u2014 host of the 2026 Winter Games \u2014 has also stepped up diplomatic pressure. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Sports Minister Andrea Abodi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.channelnewsasia.com\/sport\/italy-opposes-allowing-russia-and-belarus-use-flags-anthems-5940246\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">urged the IPC to reconsider<\/a>, expressing Rome\u2019s \u201cabsolute opposition\u201d and arguing Russia\u2019s continued violations of Olympic ideals make participation under national flags unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute follows recent tensions between Kyiv and the International Olympic Committee after Ukrainian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/olympic-chiefs-ban-ukrainian-racer-who-wanted-to-wear-helmet-honoring-war-dead\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified<\/a> from the Winter Olympics for attempting to wear a helmet honoring athletes killed in the war \u2014 a penalty that was upheld despite protests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The IPC said six Russian and four Belarusian athletes have been awarded invitations to compete at the Games&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7655],"tags":[12345,1111,1112,23664,2199,11582,770,332,93,657,771,335],"class_list":["post-777455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-russia","tag-antonio-tajani","tag-belarus","tag-estonia","tag-glenn-micallef","tag-italy","tag-lobbying","tag-poland","tag-russia","tag-sport","tag-ukraine","tag-war","tag-war-in-ukraine"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116103870381074980","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}