With the recent announcements of diplomatic boycotts from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, Europe is now hearing varied opinions regarding attendance from its European Union (EU) members ahead of the 2022 Games in Beijing.
The hope is to find some common ground, and not get pulled into a political morass two months before the start of the Games. It will be no easy task for the 27 countries which together represent China’s second largest trading partner.
Lithuania, a country facing possible Chinese sanctions due to its stance with Taiwan, did not mince words.
“I’m not going,” Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters, ahead of a meeting with EU leaders, but other nations were not as strident.
“We have a clear position on the human rights situation in China, but I don’t think it is useful to let the Olympic Games artificially become a political event.” said Austria’s Alexander Schallenberg.
A view also shared by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany’s Annalena Baerbock, who like Schallenberg, are “very much in favor of a joint EU position” but both stop short in calling for a diplomatic boycott.
An understandable position as some EU members, like Hungary, have benefited from a robust economic relationship with China, and fear a boycott would mean trade repercussions. Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said any EU position regarding a diplomatic boycott would not be reached quickly.
Diplomatic representation in Beijing will be at the forefront of discussion as EU leaders are set to debate the issue on December 16 in Paris. The hope is to find a united position to voice concerns on a Olympic platform set to move forward.