Brussels - European Union member states will not boycott the
Olympic Games in China but could stay away from the opening ceremony
in protest at events in Tibet, EU foreign ministers said Friday at an
informal meeting in Slovenia.
'We will not let ourselves be hitched to a propaganda bandwagon,
and that goes for the whole EU... The question is whether we give
such a strong political signal, whether we watch very closely how the
situation develops in China,' Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula
Plassnik said.
'Now is not the time to consider or announce boycotts of the
Olympics. It's very important for all of us that the Olympic Games go
ahead successfully because I think if you care about human rights in
China the last thing that you want is to have the Olympics spoiled or
broken,' British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.
Ahead of the meeting, the host foreign minister, Slovenia's
Dimitrij Rupel, expressed doubts whether the ministers would find a
common position on the Olympic Games and the Tibetan crisis, adding
that he would prefer to see the two issues discussed separately.
That line was initially echoed by Germany's Frank-Walter
Steinmeier, who said that he 'could not imagine' a debate on the
subject, since not all EU governments had even decided yet on whether
or not to attend the games' opening ceremony.
Neither Steinmeier nor Chancellor Angela Merkel had ever planned
to attend, he added.
However, as the EU's 27 foreign ministers gathered for a working
lunch - officially on the theme of Syria - a definite consensus built
up on the desirability of not boycotting the games themselves.
'I never thought that boycotts were a particularly effective
instrument in foreign affairs... I think foreign policy should have
more effective instruments than participation or non-participation in
sports ceremonies,' Sweden's Carl Bildt said.
'We are not for a boycott. We will do everything to create the
conditions to have a successful event,' Portugal's Luis Amado said.
Some ministers also pointed out that the games are still four
months away, and that any decision on whether or not to attend the
opening ceremony could depend on further developments.
'Reducing the question to whether we will decide today on our
political participation in an event in four months' time is rather a
simplistic reduction,' Plassnik said.
And the ministers echoed calls by the European Parliament on
Wednesday for the Chinese authorities to begin talks with exiled
Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.
'We want to see dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the
Chinese government but also ... we are very strong in supporting
China's engagement with the outside world not just economically, not
just politically but in sporting terms,' Miliband said.
'We want a dialogue between Chinese and Tibetans. And the Chinese
have to know that we are not anti-Chinese. Those are simple things,'
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
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