Focus: Merkel not to visit Sochi Olympics

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has refused to go to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, the German magazine Focus reported on Sunday, citing its sources in government circles. The German delegation will be headed by Thomas de Maiziere, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, says the magazine.

As already reported by the "Caucasian Knot", the debate over the presence of German officials at the 2014 Olympics erupted after on December 8 the President Joachim Gauck informed the Russian government about his refusal to attend the Olympic Games in Sochi.

Let us remind you that the same decision was made by Barack Obama, who referred to his "tight schedule". The same reason was indicated by the Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. The first persons in Poland, as well as the French President Francois Hollande had not even planned to attend the Olympics in Sochi. On December 19, the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said she would not go to the Olympics because of human rights violations in Russia. Viviane Reding, the Vice-President of the European Commission and the EU Commissioner for Justice, had also refused to visit Sochi; she explained her decision by persecution of minorities by Russian authorities.

On December 2, the Georgian Government decided not to attend Sochi to participate in official ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games. The main reason for the refusal was the unwillingness of Georgian leaders to occur in the government box of the Sochi Olympic Stadium close to the presidents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whose independence had been recognized by Russia.