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EU ministers, Olympic committees oppose boycott of
Beijing Olympics
BELGRADE, March 18 (Xinhua/GNA) -- The European Union's
sports ministers and chairs of national Olympics committees
said on Monday they strongly oppose a boycott of the Beijing
Olympics.
The President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC),
Patrick Hickey, said that the EOC was a sports organization
which did not interfere in political issues, the Slovenian
news agency STA reported.
Hickey made the comment on the sidelines of a one-day
informal conference in Brdo pri Kranju in suburban
Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia.
Togay Bayatli, a member of the EOC, meanwhile said that
political issues should be resolved by the United Nations
and other international organizations.
"It is the athletes that lose out in cases of boycotts and
other political action," Bayatli said.
"I hope that sport will remain an instrument of
inter-cultural dialogue," said Slovenian Education and Sport
Minister Milan Zver, who is chairing the conference of top
EU sports officials from the 27 member states and Olympic
committees.
GNA
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