Latvia joins eight-country group urging EU to cut funding to IOC

Latvia is among eight European countries preparing to send a letter to the European Commission calling for EU funding to be withdrawn from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and several international sports federations. The initiative protests the rehabilitation of the aggressor states Russia and Belarus in international sports.

The public initiative was first voiced by Estonia's Ministry of Culture after the IOC decided to lift recommendations barring Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing under their national flags. Initially, seven other countries joined, but Estonia has not disclosed their identities. However, Latvian Television (LTV) reported that they are Nordic bloc countries, including Denmark and Latvia.

Latvian Minister of Education and Science Ilze Indriksone (National Alliance) confirmed Latvia's involvement: "We are in communication with neighboring countries and participating in this appeal and the clarification of the letter. We have confirmed our readiness to sign this letter, and it will definitely happen in the near future."

Indriksone stated that no amendments to the Sports Law are planned, thus maintaining the current regulation that prohibits using state funding for competitions involving Russian and Belarusian athletes. Regarding the Olympic Games, she avoided a clear answer, only adding that Latvia will work together with partner countries that understand that normalizing war is unacceptable.

Hans Natorp, President of the Danish Olympic Committee, also confirmed support for the initiative but stressed that Denmark is not ready for an Olympic boycott: "If we start talking about a boycott, not attending games or events, we would be politicizing sport from our side. We will not do that."