In a letter obtained by EUROPE, at least 52 MEPs have called on the governments of the EU member states not to participate in the football World Cup 2018 in Russia.
The procedure for collecting signatures was launched by Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, Germany) and closes at midday on Thursday. Other names could be added to these MEPs, who come from 16 member states and from the Greens/EFA, S&D, EPP, ALDE and ECR groups. Many of the signatories are Polish MEPs from the EPP. The others are German, French, Luxembourgish, Irish, Lithuanian, Dutch, British, Hungarian, Estonian, Swedish, Latvian, Czech, Belgian, Romanian and Finnish.
"We, Members of the European Parliament, call on you, as representatives of the people in the European Union, to join the governments of Iceland and the UK in not attending the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia", they state, mentioning the Salisbury attack, Russian action in Syria and Ukraine, systematic hacking, disinformation campaigns, and election meddling. "All this does not make for a good World Cup host", the MEPs state.
"Our governments should not strengthen the authoritarian and anti-western path of the Russian president, but boycott the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and raise their voices for the protection of human rights, of democratic values and peace", the MEPs add. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)