Last month, the International Olympic Committee, IOC, opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag as early as the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from most sports since the Russian invasion of Ukraine barely a year ago.
Violent reactions
In the collective resolution that the EU Parliament adopted on Thursday - among other things, with the call that the EU countries should continue to help Ukraine militarily, add more sanctions and work for Ukrainian membership in the EU - it is said, among other things, that "it is contrary to these countries' multifaceted isolation and will be used by both regimes for propaganda purposes”.
The resolution was adopted with the result 444 votes in favor, 26 against and 37 absent,
IOC President Thomas Bach has faced violent reactions from both Ukraine, which is threatening to boycott the Olympics, and its allies over the move.
The Swedish Olympic Committee, SOK, is also against the IOC's plans, just like the National Sports Confederation, RF.
But the RF chairman tells SVT Sport that there is no question of a boycott.
- We boycott if the UN and the EU have decided so.
And we do that because it is the same rules as when Swedish companies export goods and so on.
It would be strange if sport went further than politics, he says.
Invited to change
In the EU resolution, which marks the first anniversary of the Russian war of aggression, the 27 member states together with the rest of the world are asked to pressure the IOC to change its position.
IOC President Thomas Bach said in connection with a visit during the Alpine World Cup this weekend that he does not want to see government interference in the matter.
- It is not up to governments to decide who can participate in sporting events.
It would be the end of international sports competitions and the World Cup and Olympics as we know them today, he said.