Kallas: IOC's decision to reinstate Russians is out of touch with reality
European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas called the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to invite Russian athletes back "blind to reality." She also announced that the European Commission is suspending funding for the Venice Biennale, which has already allowed Russians to participate.
She made this announcement on Monday in Brussels at a press conference following the conclusion of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.
Kallas said the International Olympic Committee’s decision to invite Russian athletes back to international competitions ignored reality. According to her, ministers strongly condemned the decision, as it coincided with Russia killing a record number of Ukrainian civilians. She said it therefore appeared that the IOC was rewarding such attacks.
The High Representative also said the Commission was suspending funding for the Venice Biennale, stressing that culture and support must not become a means of concealing aggression.
Kallas also said the EU Foreign Affairs Council had imposed new sanctions against Russia for the ninth consecutive time. She said the EU was imposing sanctions against Russia at an unprecedented pace and scale. According to her, the measures adopted, together with the upcoming 21st sanctions package, target more than 250 sanctioned individuals, making this the largest round of individual sanctions since Russia’s invasion in 2022. She said the main target was the financial foundation of Russia’s war machine.
Kallas also addressed Russian cyberattacks, saying they were growing in scale and severity. According to her, the EU and the UK had simultaneously imposed sanctions on the broader ecosystem enabling these attacks, including criminals, hacktivists and companies acting on Moscow’s orders. She said this was the largest package of EU cyber sanctions ever adopted and added that the EU would summon a Russian representative to the European Union over Moscow’s cyber campaign.