17:33, 10 December 2013

European Commission Vice-President announces boycott of Sochi Olympics

Viviane Reding, a Vice-President of the European Commission and the EU Commissioner for Justice, has refused to go to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, because of the persecution of minorities by Russian authorities. She announced her decision to boycott the Games on her page on the Twitter.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier the same decision was made by the German President Joachim Gauck. The German Olympic Sports Confederation stated that the President's decision has nothing to do with the boycott; however, the leading European mass media have treated Mr Gauck's decision as "an act of conscience."

Unlike the German President, Viviane Reding did not hide her true reasons for her refusal to come to the Olympics in Sochi.

"I won't go to Sochi as long as the current Russian authorities continue treating minorities in that way," the Deutsche Welle News Agency quotes Ms Reding's page on the Twitter.