Merkel, Tusk, Klaus Send Regrets
News April 1st, 2008
Look like there are some Olympic tickets up for grabs.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, yesterday became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing.
As pressure built for concerted western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, EU leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time today, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.
The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games’ opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown’s determination to attend the Olympics.
Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President V谩clav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who had previously promised to travel to Beijing.
The Olympic teams from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic will still attend, but not the heads of state.
Via the (recently unblocked) Guardian
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This story seems to have been brushed over in much of the British press, but it’s a really big statement, from Merkel particularly. She’s not just talking about the opening ceremony, but the actual Games themselves! It looks like Sarkozy will probably join her (at least in a partial boycott), and that would put a lot of pressure on Brown and other world leaders.
What will the atmosphere be like surrounding the opening ceremony?