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“European countries are actively discussing the boycott or transfer of the 2021 IIHF World Championship from Minsk. Sviatlana Cichanouskaja has previously raised the question of the boycott during meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Slovakia and Switzerland. She discussed the possibilities of moving the Minsk championship during a conversation with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevičius, “the statement said.
“Most countries do not want to participate [Baltarusijos prezidento Aliaksandro] Lukashenko’s political spectacle, “Chichanouskaya stressed.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Sviatlana Cichanouskaya
“As long as there are more than 160 political prisoners in Belarus and thousands of people are detained, you cannot talk about any sporting event. Our partners fully understand this,” he added.
The 2021 Hockey World Championship should take place in Latvia and Belarus from May 21 to June 6.
According to Cichanouskaja, the proposal to boycott or postpone the event already has the support of the Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, the director of the Danish Hockey Federation Ulrik Larsen, the vice president of the International Hockey Federation Kalervo Kummola, as well as some members of the German Bundestag and the United States Congress.
Belarus has so far been plagued by massive protests over the August 9 presidential election, which Lukashenko has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and western democracies claim these elections were rigged. The protesters are demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, the release of political prisoners and new elections.
Last November, during the meeting of the organizing committee of the championship, Prime Minister of Belarus Raman Halouchanka stated that certain forces are trying to use the championship as a tool to pressure and blackmail Belarus. He also vowed to take care of the safety of fans and players and called for a boycott of the events to no avail.
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