Olympic Updates

The call for a boycott of the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics received chilly response at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Slovenia on Friday.

Some EU politicians recently threatened to boycott the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics. As foreign ministers from EU member states kicked off a two-day meeting here Friday, the Tibet issue was added to the agenda at the last minute.

While the discussions were scheduled for Saturday, many EU foreign ministers voiced their opposition to politicize the Olympic Games on the first day of the meeting.

"A no to the Olympics in order to relieve our consciences would help neither the people in China nor the sports organizations," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters on arrival for the meeting.

"At the moment I am against the kind of boycott debate that is going on in some European member states," he added. (...more)

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters: "We are fully engaged in supporting the Olympics. We want to see it as a success, and I think it is right that the prime minister represents us."