No visas for Russian athletes

Nancy Faeser and the state ministers responsible for sport want to prevent athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international competitions in Germany and Europe by refusing visas. This was announced by the Federal Interior and Sports Minister from the SPD this Friday after the Sports Ministers’ Conference in Frankfurt. You will seek coordination with the Foreign Office.

The Hessian Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) confirmed that the state ministers unanimously and expressly supported them. Athletes from Russia and Belarus should not be given the opportunity to enter the Schengen area via Germany. Warmongering Russia should not use sporting events as a stage for its propaganda, said Faeser.

Faeser for the Olympics in Berlin 2036

The IOC and its President Thomas Bach have recommended that the federations lift the exclusion of athletes from international competitions because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The exclusion solely because of their origin from Russia and Belarus discredits the athletes concerned. They should not be held responsible for the actions of their government and should be given the chance to compete as neutral athletes in qualifying competitions for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The IOC relies on a majority of its members and the National Olympic Committees. It has not yet decided on the admission of Russians and Belarusians to next year’s games.

A report by the lawyer Patricia Wiater from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, commissioned by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), contradicts the IOC’s arguments. The conditional re-admission with the purpose of countering the war propaganda instrumentalization of the competitions and having a de-escalating effect on the war is not as suitable as the exclusion of Russian athletes, she writes. This could also serve to protect the human rights of Ukrainian athletes. Organizers in Germany and Poland have already canceled competitions so as not to have to welcome Russian athletes.

On the eve of the conference, Faeser spoke out in favor of holding the 2036 Olympic Games in Berlin. At an event organized by “The Pioneer” on Thursday, she suggested that the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin should be historically and politically processed. “It was terrible games in 1936. The Nazis organized the games there and wanted to present themselves.” She thinks it is conceivable to do this in the place “where exclusion, where this terrible disregard for humanity took place”.

Faeser’s predecessor Horst Seehofer (CSU) had rejected this idea. “How would you see that in the world?” he told the FAZ: “The Germans are celebrating the centenary of the Nazi Olympics? That can not be.”