The European Union will present measures to prevent the Russian and Belarusian athletes´s return to international competitions, Kaja Kallas, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced on Monday following a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The initiative could move forward alongside new sanctions regarding damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

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During a press conference, Kallas explained that the ministers discussed how to prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from returning to international sports competitions. The discussion is part of the isolation measures promoted by the bloc in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“The ministers also discussed how to prevent the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international sports competitions,” the European representative stated. She added that a similar situation exists in the cultural sphere and maintained that sport and culture must not become instruments to mask Russian aggression.

The EU’s foreign policy chief indicated that her team would work with the European Commission to prepare the proposals. “Based on today’s discussion, my team, together with the Commission, will present proposals on how to maintain Russia’s isolation in the global sports arena,” she noted.

Kallas added that the sports-related measures could be developed in parallel with new sanctions against those destroying Ukraine’s cultural heritage. She did not detail the content of the proposals or specify when they would be presented.

The possibility of restricting the participation of Russian athletes in tournaments and other international events had already been raised by various EU officials.

In April, the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, described the decision by World Aquatics—the international swimming federation—to admit Russian and Belarusian swimmers to its competitions as a serious mistake. This Monday’s debate once again places international sport—alongside culture—among the areas where the EU seeks to maintain isolation measures regarding Russia.

For now, Kallas’s announcement concerns the drafting of proposals by her staff and the European Commission; the announcement did not specify how these measures would be implemented or which sports bodies might be affected.

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