Baltic countries ask IOC not to authorize flags and other symbols of Russia and Belarus

The National Olympic Committees of the Baltic countries have been against easing access restrictions for athletes from Russia and Belarus this Saturday, calling into question the recent position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Kersti Kaljulaid, president of the Estonian Olympic Committee, and her counterparts in Latvia, Raimonds Lazdins, and in Lithuania, Daina Gudzineviciute, expressed in a letter to Kirsty Coventry, president of the IOC, their “fundamental concern” for having recommended that Russian and Belarusian junior athletes be allowed to compete under their symbols despite the war that Russia continues to perpetrate on Ukrainian soil.

“We strongly oppose any measure that allows athletes representing Russia or Belarus to participate under national flags, anthems, colors, uniforms or as team members while the aggression against Ukraine continues,” Kaljulaid, Lazdins and Gudzineviciute wrote in their letter to Coventry.

They then claimed that Russia and Belarus were exploiting sport to spread state propaganda. The recent Olympic Summit, held in Lausanne (Switzerland) and chaired by Coventry, recommended this return of Russian and Belarusian athletes under their own banners.

Since the war in Ukraine began, they have only been able to compete in some disciplines as neutral athletes and have been completely banned from others. That status is maintained for the next Winter Olympic Games, scheduled for February 6 to 22, 2026.

“We firmly believe that the credibility of Olympism depends on the coherent defense of peace, human dignity and respect for international law,” stressed the leaders of the Baltic Olympic Committees. Thus, they ruled that sport should be a “way of hope” and never serve as “a means to normalize or hide” a war.