Latvia joins calls to strip EU funding from IOC
Latvia, alongside other Nordic countries, supports Estonia's initiative to deny EU funds to the International Olympic Committee as long as it allows Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the Olympics.
Latvia has confirmed its readiness to sign a letter initiated by Estonia calling for the removal of European Union funding from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and several international federations that have allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral status.
Estonian Minister of Culture Heidy Purga stressed that as long as Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine continues, sport must not be used to normalize the situation. She noted that Ukrainian athletes are unable to train under similar conditions.
Estonia has been joined by seven partner countries, likely from the Nordic bloc. Latvia's Minister of Education and Science Ilze Indriksone (National Alliance) confirmed that the letter is being finalized and Latvia will sign it shortly.
However, Danish Olympic Committee President Hans Natorp is not ready for radical steps such as a boycott, arguing that it would politicize sport. Latvian officials are also not considering a boycott at this time.
Indriksone reiterated that state funding cannot be used if an athlete participates in competitions involving Russian or Belarusian athletes. This rule is already in place, and federations must decide how to account for it. However, Latvian athletes have competed alongside representatives of aggressor states in the previous two Olympic Games, and in both cases, the delegation received state funding.
At the start of the war, Latvian officials expressed a firm stance – not to participate if Russian athletes were allowed – but the position has softened over time. Indriksone promises no further softening, yet her party, the National Alliance, was among those in the Sigulda municipality that recently overturned a decision not to fund athletes competing with aggressor representatives.
