European Parliament calls to move the 2014 World Championship from Belarus

"Belarus has been ruled by the brutal and undemocratic Lukashenko regime for almost two decades. The EU and the US have strongly condemned Lukashenko's actions. His regime arrested hundreds of peaceful demonstrators including presidential candidates, opposition leaders, journalists, civil society representatives as well as ordinary Belarusians. The 2014 Ice Hockey Championships cannot be held in Belarus under these appalling conditions."

The European Parliament resolution of 20 January 2011 on the situation in Belarus, expressing its opinion that sporting events, like the World Ice Hockey Championships in 2014, should not be held in Belarus while there are political prisoners in that country.

The Euro-Parliament initiative is the latest of several voices asking the IIHF to reconsider the assignment.

The German Bundestag called on the decision to hold the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk, Belarus to be reviewed in February. A number of German politicians proposed to increase sanctions against the Belarusian regime. European Parliamentarian Werner Schultz said that previous EU sanctions “caused a nervous reaction from Lukashenko’s regime,” despite the mild nature of the sanctions. 

“The EU must hold its ground, with zero tolerance and no negotiations so long as they have political prisoners,” Schultz said.

At the beginning of March, Peter Šťastný, National Hockey League Hall of Famer and Member of European Parliament, and Deputy Marek Migalski started the international campaign for suspension of the World Hockey Championship in Belarus in 2014 with a petition, claiming that "the International Ice Hockey Federation should acknowledge that such barbaric behaviour still being practiced in Europe is deeply disturbing."

Previously, the US Congress also adopted a resolution calling for the World Ice Hockey Championships not to be held in Belarus.

 

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