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May 16, 2008 8:12:01 PM CDT

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Merkel Will Skip Olympics  

Posted Mar 29, 08 7:07 AM CDT in World    Most Covered

(newser) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top German officials won't be going to the Beijing Olympics, the Guardian reports, joining Polish and Czech leaders who have pledged to stay away. But while Polish PM Donald Tusk and Czech President Vaclav Klaus said they'll be boycotting the opening ceremony to protest human rights abuses in Tibet, the Germans said their absence isn't political.

France's Nicolas Sarkozy has said he is open to the possibility of a boycott, and his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, has called the idea "interesting." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has made it clear he plans to attend. The EU's 27 foreign ministers will try to hammer out a common policy at a meeting this weekend.

Sources Guardian (UK), Reuters

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Editor Recommended

Decision not political, German ministers say
Der Spiegel | Mar 28, 08

British reject calls for a boycott
BBC | Mar 28, 08

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Merkel Will Skip Olympics
Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus responds during an interview in New York, Tuesday, March 4, 2008, after he spoke to the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change. Klaus is an outspoken skeptic...   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Merkel Will Skip Olympics
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier are seen in Brussels in this March 14, 2008 file picture.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Merkel Will Skip Olympics
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during a press conference following a two-day EU summit in Brussels, Friday, March 14, 2008.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Merkel Will Skip Olympics
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk answers questions about allowing U.S. missile defense interceptors to be based on Polish soil, Monday, March 10, 2008, during and interview with The Associated Press...   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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China  • Nicolas Sarkozy  • Germany  • European Union  • 2008 Beijing Olympics  • Gordon Brown  • Angela Merkel  • boycott  • Bernard Kouchner  • Donald Tusk


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